MPs consider 'Fridays off' proposal (From Western Telegraph)

MPs consider 'Fridays off' proposal

10:17am Sunday 1st July 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

MPs could have every Friday off under plans currently being considered.

The move to a four-day week was one of the proposals suggested to the Commons procedure committee, which makes recommendations over sitting hours.

MPs are rarely at Westminster on Fridays, with business only taking place on 13 Fridays a year. Most travel to their constituencies when debates finish on Thursdays.

When the Commons sits on Fridays, MPs discuss Private Members' Bills which are unlikely to become law.

But a revamp could see the Bills debated earlier in the week so more MPs take part - freeing Fridays for them to hold advice surgeries for local voters, attend constituency events and see more of their families.

A report by the procedure committee says: "Currently, the House normally sits on 13 Fridays each session, to consider Private Members' Bills.

"The question of whether to continue to sit on some Fridays is therefore wholly bound up with the question of the consideration of private Members' business."

Other plans under consideration include earlier finishes for midweek sittings, allowing MPs to go home earlier.

Committee chairman, Conservative MP Greg Knight, admitted scrapping Friday debates would be controversial.

He told the Mail on Sunday: "If we were to say Fridays are a constituency day, the press would say, 'Now they want a four-day week.'"