Reviewing select committee tasks and modes of operation

Parliamentary Affairs

Volumn 64, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 354-369

  Brazier, Alex ^a   Fox, Ruth ^a  

^a Hansard Society   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 79953678113     PISSN: 00312290     EISSN: 14602482     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsr007     Document Type: Review

References (37)

1. Hansard Society, The Challenge for Parliament: Making Government Accountable, The Report of the Hansard Society Commission on Parliamentary Scrutiny, Vacher Dod, 2001, p. xi.
2. House of Commons Reform Committee (2008-2009), Rebuilding the House, HC 1117, para 93. In February 2010, the Commons agreed a resolution to accept the Reform Committee's proposals on this subject.
3. House of Commons Liaison Committee (2009-2010), The Work of Committees in Session 2008-2009, HC 426, para 157.
4. House of Commons Liaison Committee (1999-2000), Shifting the Balance: Select Committees and the Executive, HC 300, paras 6 and 106.
5. Op. cit., note 1, paras 3.25-3.26.
6. House of Commons Modernisation Committee (2001-2002), Select Committees, HC 224, paras 31-35. The Modernisation Committee proposals for core tasks were accepted by House Resolution in May 2002.
7. House of Commons Liaison Committee (2001-2002), Select Committees: Modernisation Proposals, HC 692.
8. Letter to all Departmental Select Committee Chairmen from the Chairman of the Liaison Committee, in House of Commons Liaison Committee (2002-2003), Annual Report for 2002, HC 558, para 13.
9. A. Brazier et al., New Politics, New Parliament? A Review of Parliamentary Modernisation Since 1997, Hansard Society, 2005.
10. Op. cit., note 3, para 13.
11. Standing Orders of the House of Commons, Public Business, SO 152.
12. See P. Waller and M. Chalmers, 'An Evaluation of Pre-Appointment Scrutiny Hearings', in House of Commons Liaison Committee (2009-2010), The Work of Committees in Session 2008-2009, HC 426, Appendix 3, pp. 68-133.
13. HM Treasury, Clear Line of Sight, The Alignment Project, www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ psr-clear-line-of-sight-intro.htm.
14. Rt. Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, 21 July 2010, http://www.parliament.uk/ business/committees/ committees-a-z/commons-select/liaison-committee/news/ liaison-committee-chair-elected.
15. Oliver Letwin MP, Hansard, 8 November 2010, vol. 518, col. 26.
16. David Heath MP, Hansard, 25 October 2010, vol. 517, col. 21, and Lord Strathclyde, Hansard, 28 October 2010, vol. 721, cols. 1306-1307.
17. Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (2008), Post-legislative Scrutiny: The Government's Approach, Cm 7320.
18. House of Commons Procedure Committee (2008-2009), Tabling of Amendments by Select Committees, HC 1104.
19. House of Commons Liaison Committee, Formal Minutes Session 2010-2011, Proceedings of the Committee, 21 July 2010.
20. Conservative Party (2010), Invitation to Join the Government of Britain, p.70.
21. House of Commons Liaison Committee (2008-2009), The Work of Committees in 2007-2008, HC 291.
22. Op. cit., note 2, para 93.
23. Op. cit., note 3, para 160.
24. Op. cit., note 1, Figure 3B, para 3.26.
25. Op. cit., note 8, Letter to all Departmental Select Committee Chairmen from the Chairman of the Liaison Committee, Appendix 1.
26. For example, the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee (2009-2010), Work of the Committee 2008-2009, HC 92, contains a detailed table showing the inquiries and activities undertaken cross-referenced against all their objectives.
27. The Defence Committee annual report, House of Commons Defence Committee (2009-2010), The Work of the Committee 2008-2009, HC 119, sets out the work undertaken on the core tasks and also provides narrative detail about the scope of the inquiries and impact of reports.
28. Op. cit., note 3.
29. House of Commons, Sessional Digest 2009-2010.
30. An interesting example of an attempt to do this for one area of the core tasks can be found in House of Commons Transport Committee (2010-2011), Financial Scrutiny of the Department for Transport, HC 683.
31. House of Commons Treasury Committee (1997-1998), First Report: Accountability of the Bank of England, HC 282, Section IV;
32. House of Commons Treasury Committee (1997-1998), Accountability of the Bank of England: The Response of the Government and the Bank of England to the First Report from the Committee in Session 1997-1998, HC 502.
33. See for example, R. Fox and M. Korris, Making Better Law: Reform of the Legislative Process from Policy to Act, Hansard Society, 2010, pp. 76-9.
34. Op. cit., note 3, paras 162 and 167.
35. Op. cit., note 1, para 4.28.
36. Op. cit., note 3, para 166. The House of Commons Procedure Committee is currently inquiring into Sitting Hours and the Calendar of the House of Commons, (Committee Press Notice, 5 November 2010).
37. Op. cit., note 1, para 2.33.