Education and Inspections Bill

I thank the Minister, particularly for putting his name to Amendment No. 104; it was originally our amendment, but he has brought it back as a government amendment. We have before us a group of 20 amendments, so I would like to use this opportunity to make a few comments about how the Bill is being handled. The Government have got themselves into a mess. To extract themselves, they are trying to import the practices of another place into your Lordships' House without any discussion or vote about the matter. When asked how many days we needed for Committee on this very contentious Bill, we on these Benches said six. The Government then imposed their own timetable and set four. They added another half day, as they began to see that we were right. They are so anxious to finish Committee before the Recess that they have imposed their own guillotine, without any opportunity for your Lordships to vote on the matter. They have tried all sorts of devices to curtail proper discussion of the Bill, such as wanting to postpone Committee-style discussion of certain sections until Report; wanting the House to sit until midnight, which is totally contrary to what it has voted for; and putting together enormous, unwieldy and often non-homogenous groups of amendments. Indeed the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, has degrouped his amendments from the group of 16 amendments beginning with government Amendment No. 158. We are told that we are not doing very well. That does not mean that we are not making good arguments, raising important issues or doing our job of scrutinising the Bill; it means that we are not getting through the business fast enough. It is like, ““Never mind the quality, feel the width””. The Bill was not fully scrutinised in another place, despite the time that it took over it. Whole sections were dismissed in an hour on the last day. These Benches will play our part in helping this House to carry out its traditional role of scrutinising every part of the Bill, and looking into every corner to ensure fairness and that vulnerable people are protected and human rights upheld. That is what this House does well and, until it ceases to be our job, that is what we will continue to do. I hope that the Government will consider the considerable co-operation that we have already given and any co-operation that we may or may not give over the next few days as not establishing any precedent that rides roughshod over the rights and procedures of your Lordships' House.