1. House of Lords procedure for Select
Committees
Chris Atkinson
23 January 2014
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2. Different types of Select Committee
Domestic
Policy committees
• Legislative
• Investigative
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3. Characteristics of Lords committees
“Cross-cutting” rather than departmental
Complement the Commons
Distinctive style
Most committees are outward-facing and engage with
“interested parties”
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4. Lords European Union Committee
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5. Membership
Usually about 12
members on each
committee
General political
balance (eg 4 Lab, 4
Cons, 2 X-B and 2 LD).
Government not to have
a majority under the
coalition
About 170 Members
currently involved –
rotation rule = 4 sessions
Selected by Committee
of Selection, on
nomination of Chief
Whips and Convenor of
the Crossbenchers;
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6. The process of committee work
Where time is tight some of these
steps may be dispensed with,
especially by legislative committees.
Investigation
and
exploratory
work;
seminars
Call for
evidence
Oral/written
evidence
collected;
visits
Deliberation
Report
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7. Committee powers
Despite the terminology – “witnesses”;
“evidence”; “submission” – they are
political, not judicial bodies
Powers of committees in practice depend
on cooperation by outside bodies, and
Government
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8. Sessional committees
European Union
(6 subcommittees)
Science &
Technology (with
power to appoint a
Sub-Committee)
Economic Affairs
(Finance Bill subcommittee)
Constitution
Communications
Joint Committee
on Human Rights
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9. Other select Committees
• Ad hoc Select Committees
– Eg Joint Parliamentary Commission on Banking
Standards
– Olympic and Paralympic Legacy
– Soft power and the UK’s influence abroad
• Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Joint Committees
– Draft Deregulation Bill
– Draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill
• Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committees
– Inquiries Act 2005
– Mental Capacity Act 2005
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10. Select Committees on Delegated Powers
• Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
– policy merit
– appropriateness /gold plating
• Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform
Committee
– appropriate use of powers
– draft legislation reform orders
• Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
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11. Outcomes
Committees report to the House, but have a wider audience
Investigative reports are usually debated on the floor and all receive a
written response from Government within 2 months, & sometimes a
response from others eg European Commission,
Reports from committees may feed into legislative process; EU Committee
scrutiny of EU legislative proposals; legislative committee reports often “tagged”
on order of business; growing practice to table committee amendments to bills
Evaluation and “Follow-up”
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12. Engaging with the work of Select
Committees
Talk to
committee staff
Go and see a
committee
sitting, or watch
a webcast
Subscribe to
web alerts
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