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UK Parliament

Decisions 16 June 2003

Monday 16 June 2003 at 5pm in Speaker's House

Present:

The Speaker, in the Chair
Mr Stuart Bell
Sir Patrick Cormack
Mr Peter Hain
Sir Archy Kirkwood

Apologies: Mr Eric Forth

The Speaker welcomed Mr Hain to the Commission and congratulated him on his wedding at the weekend.  He introduced Roger Daw, successor to Sir Nicolas Bevan as Speaker's Secretary.  The Commission paid tribute to Sir Nicolas for his work over the past ten years.

1.  Draft Commission Annual Report

The Commission considered the final draft of its annual report, incorporating the annual report of the Audit Committee. The Commission welcomed the new format-both its layout and the themes drawn out were improvements on previous years.  The Speaker congratulated the Clerk and the Board of Management on a successful year's activity.

2.  Freedom of Information

The Director of Finance and Administration was present.

The Commission further considered the detail of the publication scheme for Members' allowances and expenses.

3.  Refreshment Department financial arrangements review

The Director of Finance and Administration and the Director of Catering Services were present.

The Director of Catering Services reported on how the patterns of demand for Refreshment Department facilities had changed with the new sitting hours and her plans to rationalise services to reflect this.  The Commission approved proposals from the Finance and Services Committee that:

  • savings of 3% of Refreshment Department expenditure should be made over the next year
  • savings of 5% of expenditure should be achieved within three years
  • the Finance and Services Committee should review progress in December.

The Commission welcomed the involvement of the Catering Committee in this initiative and noted that implementation of the detailed proposals would be for the Director of Catering Services, consulting the Catering Committee as necessary.

4.  Any other business

Commissioners noted the planned debate on the responses of the Standards and Privileges Committee and the Commission to the Report of the Wicks Committee, due to be held on 26 June.