Urgent Debates Declined — Community and Voluntary Sector, Minister—Investigation into Ministerial Funding Decisions

I have received a letter from Andrew Little seeking to debate under Standing Order 389 the decision by the Prime Minister to order an investigation of the Hon Alfred Ngaro’s funding decisions as Minister. The decision is a particular case of recent occurrence involving ministerial responsibility. The big hurdle to get over in applications for urgent debates is whether the matter has reached the stage where the business of the House ought to be set aside. The test is a high one. There must be an element of urgency or substantive policy change for the matter to take precedence over other business. While the announcement of an inquiry may warrant an urgent debate, the circumstances must be exceptional. In this instance, the investigation found that the Minister had not been involved in any funding decisions. On that basis, I am not persuaded that the setting aside of the business of the House for an urgent debate on the decision to order the investigation can be justified. The application is, therefore, declined.