Commons to sit in September as MPs summer recess is cut

MPs have had their summer break cut with the Commons to sit in September for the first time since 2004.

The Commons will rise on 29 July and is set to return on 6 September for two weeks of business before the party conference season.

Commons leader Sir George Young announced the changes to MPs during business questions.

It follows a pledge by David Cameron to ensure MPs would not get an "absurd" three-month summer recess.

Last year, MPs were on recess from 21 July to 12 October - a break of 83 days.

Explaining the move to a 38 day recess for this year, the prime minister's official spokesman said: "This is a commitment that the prime minister has had for some time, to reduce the size of the recess and move away from the situation we had in the past, where we had a period of three months in the summer."

She said a decision on whether future summer recesses would be shorter would be made each year.

Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, said the upper house would not sit during September.

She told peers the Lords would rise at the end of business on 28 July and return in October on a date to be confirmed.

There have been growing calls for a MPs to have a shorter summer break, with Speaker John Bercow saying last year it must be "mystifying" to voters that MPs currently did not sit from mid-July to October.

The Commons was recalled on three occasions during the summer break between 1997 and 2003.