The ‘in-committee debate’ on the options for reforming the mix of Senators, Constables and Deputies has been put off for the second successive sitting. Privileges and Procedures Committee chairman Derek Gray, the Constable of St Clement, has decided to delay the debate until after the results of the second Mori poll have been published. He expects the debate to take place after the sitting on 13 March, so that Members can take the public poll into account. ‘The general feeling of the committee was that the original purpose of the in-committee debate was to inform the public so they were prepared for the pamphlet that was sent to them the week it was originally scheduled,’ said Mr Gray. ‘It would be better to have an in-committee debate when Members are informed about the responses from the public that Mori are getting this week.’ The cancellation of the debate leaves Tuesday’s Order Paper looking quite bare and Members look likely to have the agenda sewn up within a day.
