The Education & Skills Select Committee was a Committee of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...
. The official name was the ''House of Commons, Education and Skills Committee''.
The committee was abolished as a result of the abolition of the
Department for Education and Skills, whose responsibilities were split between the new
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was repla ...
and the new
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Committees were subsequently set up in line with the new departments.
Remit
The Education and Skills Committee was one of the House of Commons
Select committees related to government departments: its terms of reference were to examine "the expenditure, administration and policy of the
Department for Education and Skills and its associated public bodies".
The Committee chooses its own subjects of inquiry, within the overall terms of reference. It invited written evidence from interested parties and held public evidence sessions, usually in committee rooms at the House of Commons, although it did have the power to meet away from Westminster.
At the end of each inquiry, the Committee would normally agree a Report based on the evidence received. Such reports were published and made available on the internet. Reports usually contained recommendations to the Government and other bodies. The Government by convention responded to reports within about two months of publication. These responses were also published.
Inquiries
The Committee could examine any area of work related to the Department for Education and Skills and its associated public bodies, such as the
Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 M ...
and
Ofsted.
The inquiries that the committee carried out included:
* Bullying
* Citizenship education
*
Prison education
*
Further education
*
Special Educational Needs
Special educational needs (SEN), also known as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom refers to the education of children who require different education provision to the mainstream system.
Definition
The definiti ...
* Secondary education
* Teaching children to read
See also
*
List of Committees of the United Kingdom Parliament
The parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom are committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Each consists of a small number of Members of Parliament from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, or Peerage, pee ...
External links
Education & Skills CommitteeRecords for this Committee are held at the Parliamentary Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Education and Skills Select Committee
Defunct Select Committees of the British House of Commons