Following his election to the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons, Reading West MP Martin Salter has helped to secure an important victory for the power of the new group to make recommendations on Parliamentary reform.

Mr Salter scored very highly on the ballot for the selection for the new Committee, seeing off competition from thirteen other MPs.

His first action upon his election was to raise with Prime Minister Gordon Brown the powers of the new Committee to scrutinise the scheduling of all Government business, not just Private Members Bills which are put forward by individual MPs which rarely make it onto the Statute Book, or Adjournment Debates which cannot be voted on.

In Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Salter said:-

“The Prime Minister deserves great credit for bringing forward proposals to establish the Parliamentary Standards Bill and to set up a Select Committee on reform of the House of Commons, but may I draw his attention to the unnecessarily tight terms of reference on today’s Order Paper, and to the cross-party amendment in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright)? Surely, it cannot be right for the Committee to be constrained to discuss only non-governmental business.”

The Prime Minister indicated in his reply that the Parliamentary Reform Committee’s terms of reference could be expanded.

Martin Salter sponsored an amendment, supported by over 50 MPs from all parties, which challenged the Government over the proposed powers for the new Committee and insisted that the terms of reference should be expanded to allow for the scrutiny of all types of House business. Following pressure from Mr Salter and his colleagues, the Government,, last night, agreed to re-examine the remit of the Committee in light of his Parliamentary Question and the cross-party support for wider terms of reference.

Martin Salter said:-

“This is the first important victory for the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons, and one step along the road to dragging the House of Commons into the twenty-first century. The recent scandal over expenses and the public outcry, as well as the election this week of reforming Speaker John Bercow, demonstrates very clearly the need for sweeping changes in the way that Parliament operates. For the Government whips to stifle things at the last minute by limiting the Committee’s remit to only a tiny part of Government business would be the worst possible start for what should be a programme of radical reform.”

He added:-

“I am extremely pleased that the Prime Minister has listened to the concerns I raised with him yesterday, and hope that when we return to this debate next week, common sense will have prevailed and the Government will agree that wholesale reform of the House of Commons is the only way that politicians can hope to regain the trust of the people we represent.”