The Commons and Finance The House of Commons on Tuesday
debated a question of procedure whose technicality somewhat obscures its importance ; for it affects both the House of Commons' control of the executive and the Crown's right of initiative in expenditure. In recent years there have been many com- plaints, which grew to an uproar in the debate on the Special Areas Bill, that money resolutions are so narrowly framed as to deprive Members of their power to amend the Bills based on them. A Select Committee appointed by the House made two recommendations, of which the Government has accepted one, and for the other has substituted a proposal intended to achieve the same effect. The accepted recommendation proposes to alter Standing Orders so as to allow the House to take the second reading of a money bill before the relevant financial resolutions are considered in Committee ; this allows discussion of detailed provisions at an early stage. In addition, the Government has declared its intention of securing, by instruction to draftsmen, that money resolutions should be drawn up in sufficiently wide terms not to restrict the amendments to a Bill which can be properly considered at the Committee stage. Changes of procedure must prove their value in practice ; but the Government's declaration seems to imply that in fact money resolutions have been framed in a way which-is improper and to raise the question whether this is purely a fault of draftsmanship.
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