The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a

select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

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 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 suprema ...

. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (and prior to that, the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the e ...

), and relations with the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

. It also looks at the administration and expenditure of the Advocate General for Scotland. Unlike the

Scottish Grand Committee The Scottish Grand Committee is a committee of the House of Commons. It is not a select committee (see Scottish Affairs Select Committee), but rather a grand committee composed of all 59 Scottish MPs (72 MPs prior to 2005). It has its origins ...

, MPs from constituencies outside

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

can, and do, sit on the Scottish Affairs Committee.

Predecessors

Before 1992 there was not consistent Select Committee scrutiny of Scottish affairs.A COMMITTEE AGAIN: THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REVIVED SELECT COMMITTEE ON SCOTTISH AFFAIRS
Allan McConnell and Robert Pyper, Scottish Affairs, no.7, Spring 1994 In 1968 a committee was formed partly in response to the growth of Scottish nationalism, although the committee was closed down by a reorganisation of select committees by Edward Heath's government in 1972. In 1979 Norman St John Stevas the Leader of the House under Margaret Thatcher's government instituted a Select Committee system that closely mirrored government departments in order to have better parliamentary scrutiny of the government. This was again discontinued in 1987 although there was an alternative Scottish Affairs committee manned by opposition MPs.

Membership

Following the 2024 United Kingdom general election, chairs and member of committees are yet to be appointed.

2019-2024 Parliament

Following the 2019 general election, the House of Commons appointed the members of the Scottish Affairs committee on 4 May 2020. As of January 2024, the membership was as follows:

Changes since 2019

2017-2019 Parliament

The election of the chair took place on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.

Changes 2017-2019

2015-2017 Parliament

The chair was elected on 18 June 2015, with members being announced on 6 July 2015.

Changes 2015-2017

2010-2015 Parliament

The chair was elected on 10 June 2010, with members being announced on 12 July 2010.

Changes 2010-2015

List of chairs

References

External links

Records of the Scottish Affairs Committee are held at the Parliamentary ArchivesScottish Affairs Committee
{{UKParliamentCommittees Politics of Scotland Select Committees of the British House of Commons