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In British politics, parliamentary select committees can be appointed from 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. ...
, 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 Westminster ...
, like the
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee is a committee of UK parliamentarians. Members are drawn from the House of Lords. The committee has several primary functions. Orders The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee is ap ...
; or as a joint committee of Parliament drawn from both, such as the Joint Committee on Human Rights. 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 princip ...
, considered by the Constitution Committee, 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 in the House of Commons. The Intelligence and Security Committee 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 and the system of committees was further developed during the mid-1960s by Richard Crossman as Leader of the House of Commons. 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, 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. 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 The Women and Equalities Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was established following the 2015 general election to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Governm ...
. 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 bills. 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 ''Public Account'' was a weekly political programme first transmitted on 6 January 1975 by BBC Television in Scotland. It was the sister programme to BBC Scotland's Current Account which covered general current affairs issues rather than pol ...
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
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from 1991 to 2005. It deals with issues as diverse as catering services, the
House of Commons Library The House of Commons Library is the library and information resource of the lower house of the British Parliament. It was established in 1818, although its original 1828 construction was destroyed during the burning of Parliament in 1834. Th ...
, 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 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 arrangements.


Rules regarding their work

The Osmotherly Rules set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to parliamentary select committees.


See also

* Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom *
Estimate Audit Committees The Estimate Audit Committees is a group of two select committees of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It has a remit to support the Clerk of the House of Commons and the Accounting Officer of the House of Commons. Mem ...


References


External links


Committees
UK Parliament
Select Committee of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong

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