In
British politics,
parliamentary select committees can be appointed from the
House of Commons, like the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee; from the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
, like the
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee; or as a
joint committee of Parliament drawn from both, such as the
Joint Committee on Human Rights
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom.
Membership
As at November 2022, the members of the committee ...
. Committees may exist as "sessional" committees – i.e. be near-permanent – or as "ad-hoc" committees with a specific deadline by which to complete their work, after which they cease to exist, such as the Lords Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.
The Commons select committees are generally responsible for overseeing the work of government departments and agencies, whereas those of the Lords look at general issues, such as the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
, considered by the
Constitution Committee
The Constitution Committee is a cross-party select committee of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee's remit is "to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming befor ...
, or the economy, considered by the
Economic Affairs Committee. Both houses have their own committees to review drafts of
European Union directives: the
European Union Committee in the House of Lords, and the
European Scrutiny Committee
The European Scrutiny Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in January 2020 and the end of the transition period on 31 December 202 ...
in the House of Commons.
The
Intelligence and Security Committee
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, appointed to oversee the work of the UK intelligence community.
The committee was established in 1994 by the I ...
is not a select committee, though it contains members from both houses and has a chair elected by the House of Commons. It is a unique committee of parliamentarians nominated by the Prime Minister and reporting to him or her, not Parliament.
The
Backbench Business Committee was created in 2010 as a non-ministerial committee to cover non-government business, following recommendations from the Reform the House of Commons report under the
Wright Committee.
[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmrefhoc/1117/1117.pdf ]
Other changes occurring as a result of recommendations by the Wright Committee included limiting the number of members per committee to 11, requiring those members and chairs to be appointed to their positions by the House, and a reduction in the number of committees.
History
Specialised committees of investigation had existed within Parliament since the
Tudor period
The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...
and the system of committees was further developed during the mid-1960s by
Richard Crossman as
Leader of the House of Commons
The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
.
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, the modern system of departmental select committees came into being in 1979, following the recommendations of a Procedure Select Committee, set up in 1976, which reported in 1978. It recommended the appointment of a series of select committees covering all the main departments of state, with wide terms of reference, and with power to appoint specialist advisers as the committees deemed appropriate. It also suggested that committee members should be selected ''independently'' of the party whips, as chosen by the Select
Committee of Selection. The fourteen new committees began working effectively in 1980 after the
1979 general election.
In the House of Commons
The post-1979 system is made up of three main types of committee. Departmental committees shadow each of the main government departments – for example the
Education Select Committee shadows the
Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England.
A Departme ...
. A number of committees work on general themes which are not the responsibility of any single department – for example, the
Science and Technology Select Committee, and
Women and Equalities Select Committee. Another group of committees deal with the internal affairs of the House (for example, the Procedure Select Committee and Standards and Privileges Select Committee).
Rarely, there are also select committees of the Commons (and sometimes joint standing committees) that are tasked with the detailed analysis of individual
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Pla ...
s. Most bills are referred, since the 2006–07 session, to
public bill committees, and before that, there were standing committees.
The chairs of (the majority of) select committees have been elected by the house as a whole since June 2010: before that the members were appointed by their parties and chairs voted on solely by those members.
The chairs of committees are allocated to political parties on the basis of their numerical strength in the House of Commons. Negotiations between
party managers determine which party will hold which committee chair. By convention, the
Public Accounts Committee is chaired by a member of the main opposition party, while the
Treasury Select Committee is chaired by a member of the governing party. The remaining places on the committee are allocated in proportion to the numerical strength of the parties in the House of Commons. These positions are filled by votes conducted within party caucuses.
This means that positions on select committees are only ever contested among members of the same party. The standard number of members on a departmental committee is 11, although some committees such as
Public Accounts have a larger membership.
In July 2005, the
Administration Select Committee was instituted, replacing the five 'domestic' committees which had been responsible for the consideration of services provided for the House in the
Palace of Westminster from 1991 to 2005. It deals with issues as diverse as catering services, the
House of Commons Library, digital services provision, and visitor services.
Role - Administration Committee - UK Parliament
Parliament.uk.
The powers of Select Committees in the Commons are governed by the Standing Orders. The powers of departmental select committees are set out in standing order 152 as follows:
In the House of Lords
The House of Lords has a set of five major select committees:
* The European Union Committee, which currently has six sub-committees
* The Constitution Committee
The Constitution Committee is a cross-party select committee of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee's remit is "to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming befor ...
* The Economic Affairs Committee
* The Science and Technology Committee (House of Lords)
The Science and Technology Committee is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It has a broad remit "to consider science and technology".
Membership
As of May 2022, the membership of the committee is as ...
* The Communications Select Committee
These committees run inquiries into topics within their remit, issuing reports from time to time. The European Union Committee also scrutinises EU legislation and other EU proposals, as well as conducting inquiries.
Non-parliamentary
Some English local authorities also have a select committee system, as part of their Overview and Scrutiny
Overview may refer to:
* Overview article, an artícle that summarizes the current state of understanding on a topic
* Overview map, generalised view of a geographic area
See also
* Summary (disambiguation)
* Outline (list)
* '' A Brief Ove ...
arrangements.
Rules regarding their work
The Osmotherly Rules
The Osmotherly Rules, named for their author, a civil servant in the Machinery of Government Division of the British Cabinet Office named E. B. C. Osmotherly, are a set of internal guidelines specifying how government departments should ...
set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to parliamentary select committees.
See also
* Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom
* Estimate Audit Committees
References
External links
Committees
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
Select Committee of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
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