Urgent Debates Declined — Schools—Public-private Partnerships

I have received a letter from the Hon Trevor Mallard seeking to debate under Standing Order 380 the Government’s announcement of the next step towards a public-private partnership for building and maintaining some new school property. The announcement is a particular case of recent occurrence that involves ministerial responsibility. This is an important matter, but there must be an element of urgency for it to take precedence over other business. The announcement today is part of a continuing process. The business case is to be prepared, which will include a decision on specific schools. In considering whether a matter requires the urgent attention of the House, it is also relevant to consider whether another parliamentary means of debating it is available. There will be other opportunities to debate the matter, especially as the House will shortly debate the estimates. In these circumstances, I am not persuaded that the business of the House should be set aside today. The matter is one that can be considered over a longer time frame. The application is, therefore, declined.