Summer Adjournment

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

On behalf of the Backbench Business Committee, I beg to move

That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming Adjournment.

This is the second time that we have had a debate on the Floor of the House that has been chosen by the Backbench Business Committee. We have chosen to keep the pre-recess Adjournment debate format, mainly because we have had so many insistent representations from colleagues to retain it. As Mr Speaker mentioned earlier, about 50 Members have put down their names to speak, and the Chamber is very full. This is a rare opportunity for Members to debate issues that they have not been able to raise elsewhere, either because they have not been called to speak in a debate or because they have been unsuccessful in securing an Adjournment debate.

The Backbench Business Committee believes that the pre-recess Adjournment debate could be improved, however, and we hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will commit to ensuring that those Members who want one will receive a substantive reply from the relevant Government Department. The Committee will also consider changes to the format of these debates, and we welcome any suggestions for improvement. With that, Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish you and everyone else in the House a relaxing and enjoyable recess.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

May I remind hon. Members that there is a limit of eight minutes on speeches in the debate?