Ministers seem to be aware of the situation according to Mr Farrington

Ministers seem to be aware of the situation, according to Mr Farrington. The Australians were able to abolish their Visitor system with a one-line change to the law. Why can’t the same happen here?And why can’t higher education adopt the same kind of attitude as further education? The Further Education Funding Council, as the ultimate appeal procedure, acts quickly and forthrightly to investigate student complaints (see the case study above) and has no hesitation in recommending changes to college processes in the areas where they are not seen to be fair.A conference on student complaints, organised by the Quality Assurance Agency and supported by The Independent, will be held on Tuesday 13 June at the Radisson Portman Hotel, London W1. Speakers include Baroness Blackstone, Higher Education minister For further details ring 020-7698 3036..

The growing demand for reform of Commons hours is now overwhelming. It has already led Tess Kingham, the bright Labour MP for Gloucester, to stand down at the next election because she is not prepared to put up with the current arrangements while bringing up a young family. Now that the argument has been joined by Archie Norman, the shadow Environment spokesman and former Asda chairman, there is, at last, a welcome groundswell of MPs on all sides who are prepared to countenance a serious change to the archaic arrangements. The mother of parliaments is looking increasingly dowdy and outdated and must change if she is to attract politicians of sufficient calibre. The growing demand for reform of Commons hours is now overwhelming.

It has already led Tess Kingham, the bright Labour MP for Gloucester, to stand down at the next election because she is not prepared to put up with the current arrangements while bringing up a young family. Now that the argument has been joined by Archie Norman, the shadow Environment spokesman and former Asda chairman, there is, at last, a welcome groundswell of MPs on all sides who are prepared to countenance a serious change to the archaic arrangements. The mother of parliaments is looking increasingly dowdy and outdated and must change if she is to attract politicians of sufficient calibre.
Sadly, the modernisation committee has not met the expectations that MPs set for it when it was established in 1997. It has done little beyond abolishing the use of top hats during certain procedures, which is hardly the most daring of moves. Its chairman, Margaret Beckett, says it aims to reform “by consensus” Such an approach is doomed to failure. Mrs Beckett, it seems, is prepared to countenance only piecemeal proposals that do not undermine the power of the executive over the legislature. So much for modernisation, then.A new approach, which capitalises on the clear majority of MPs on all sides to see parliamentary hours as part of a wider reform of the way the Commons checks the Government, should be considered.

The best way forward would be the establishment of a Speaker’s conference of MPs (with the membership elected by secret ballot) to make recommendations covering government accountability to Parliament, as well as the timetable for hours of sittings. Few MPs, apart from the diehard minority who regard late nights in Parliament as an extension of the gentlemen’s clubs of Pall Mall, would object to making the Thursday practice of morning sittings the norm for the rest of the week.There are legitimate concerns that the reform of Parliament to suit the convenience of MPs may result in a reduction of their powers to block the executive. But such fears can be dealt with by limiting the amount of legislation a government may put to Parliament. One of the major difficulties is that, in Britain, the Government has total control of the Commons’ timetable. This year, the Government is seeking to pump through 37 Bills, many of which have no perceptible impact on the nation’s life. Additionally, the Government must cede some power to the select committees, which should perform a vital inquisitive role but are being undermined increasingly by the whips. A reduction of the 17 weeks of recess is another way forward.