select committees
TRANSCRIPT
Select Committees: How they work and how to get involved
Committees
Departmental
Temporary
InternalOther
scrutiny
Joint
Scrutiny: What do Select Committees do?
Core tasks – overall aimTo hold Ministers and Departments to account for their policy and decision-making and to support the House in its control of the supply of public money and scrutiny of legislation
Parliament (Westminster)
• Commons, Lords and Monarch
• holds Government to account
• passes laws
Government (Whitehall)
• some MPs and some Lords, chosen by the Prime Minister
• runs Government departments and public services
Vexing civil servants since 1668
“At the office all the morning, where comes a damned summons to attend the Committee of Miscarriages to-day, which makes me mad, that I should by my place become the hackney of this Office, in perpetual trouble and vexation, that need it least.” ~ Sam. Pepys
Revised core tasks
Strategy
Support for theHouse
Bills
Draftbills
Policy
Expenditureand
performance
Post-legislativescrutinyAppointments
Publicengagement
Europeanscrutiny
5. Government reply
3. Report preparation
1. Inquiry initiation
2. Evidence gathering
The inquiry process
4. Report publication
The inquiry process
Select Committees in action!Select Committees: Members and staff
Clerk Specialist2-3 Administrative staff ChairMembers
Witnesses
Committees need you!
1. Submit written evidence• Terms of reference will be
issued – ensure evidence addresses them
• Check deadline dates
• Use clear language – write for an intelligent non-expert
• Suggest solutions as well as addressing problems
• Contact committee Clerk to discuss your submission, and for advice
2. Give oral evidence
• Many hearings are fact-finding sessions.. Get your view on the record
• Ask any questions before the session
• Avoid jargon and too many acronyms
• Arrive early!
Committees need you!
3. Respond to broader consultations, attend seminars, town hall meetings…
Many other ways…1. Contact with staff (informal)2. Become a Specialist Adviser (formal)3. Keep up to date with committee activity: twitter, press
notices, parliament.uk4. Work placement?
Informal engagement is important
Further information contacts– Website:
• www.parliament.uk; www.parliamrnt.uk/ecc
– Twitter: • @UKParliament, @CommonsECC
– Or get in touch:• [email protected]; [email protected]