November 15, 2007

11:31am Thursday 15th November 2007

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I attended a briefing meeting with Lord Mackenzie, the minister with responsibility for the Child Support Agency and the chief executive to hear about their Operational Improvement Plan to make the renewed organisation more efficient and effective.

A major improvement is that every case will be handled in one office. Confusion has arisen previously because different aspects of the same case would be handled in different offices.

Also debt collection is being strengthened. This is starting to improve maintenance collection. I was pleased they recognised the value of specific members of staff designated to support MPs in efforts to help constituents with some difficult, long standing cases.

Some innovations greeted us in this new session of Parliament. Two have affected me already.

Ministerial questions have been cut from one hour to 45 minutes to allow 15 minutes for so-called topical questions. I had drawn question 13 in Health Questions last Tuesday; this would have been reached in an hour- long session but this time we only reached number nine so mine was excluded.

If one has a selected question it is unwise to attempt to speak on an earlier question because if you are called, your own later question is cancelled.

The second change affects the length of backbench speeches in debates. If many MPs wish to speak, the Speaker announces limits on backbench speeches, from 15 down to eight minutes, at the beginning of the debate.

The change is that he or his deputies can now adjust the limit during the debate. On Tuesday during the debate on health and education matters in the Queen's Speech, before I was called the limit was reduced from 10 to seven minutes. This was frustrating as frontbenchers are allowed unlimited time and on Tuesday much of this was taken up with pointless, party political bickering that inevitably cut short the time for backbenchers.

In my seven minutes I concentrated on quality of care in NHS hospitals as I am still receiving complaints about appalling examples of care locally and further afield.

I went to the Bewdley Remembrance Day Service this year and was moved as usual by the spirit of the occasion, by the large attendance and by a prayer: "Loving god, We pledge ourselves to serve you and all people, In the cause of peace, for the relief of poverty and suffering, and for the good of all peoples."

This reflects the words in one of the prayers often used at the opening of the day's session in the Commons. We pray for help, "to seek to improve the conditions of all men".

My roving sports reporter tells me that Peter Cook and his parents' group at Kidderminster Carolians organised a successful under-10s rugby festival last weekend. How lucky we are to have such dedicated volunteers in so many aspects of youth sport in our area.

DR RICHARD TAYLOR, MP FOR WYRE FOREST