Parliament - FUNCTIONS Scrutiny in the Commons by Committees

Question 1

Different forms of scrutiny

Answer 1

THREE WAYS: Committees, questions, debates.

PMQTs, Minister’s Question Time, Written questions, legislative scrutiny, vote of no confidence, Select committees.

Question 2

Select Committees

a group of members from all parties, elected by fellow MPs to scrutinise the government, usually from specific departments such as Treasury/Education.

What are Public Bill Committees?

Answer 2

Public Bill Committees scrutinise proposed legislation and offer amendments to the wording of the Bills. They are criticised for being too partisan because Whips select who + what MPs sit on the committee, and so they are expected to follow party ideology.

They can ask individuals with expertise in certain areas to give oral/written evidence - select committees

introduced in 1979 to monitor the performance and effectiveness of departments within the government. Can also investigate specific policy requirements. Usually 11 members and is non-partisan.

Question 3

What is parliamentary privilege and exclusive cognisance?

Answer 3

parliamentary privilege: this protects MPs from being sued for libel/publishing false statement/defamation. This gives those in the Commons freedom of speech.

This also gives Parliament exclusive cognisance, which is the right to control its own internal affairs without outside interference.

Question 4

what are the Departmental Select committees?

Answer 4

Select committees are held in the committee rooms in the Palace of Westminster - they usually meet once every week and take evidence in the public.

Departmental Select Committees: specialise in the work of on government department e.g. Education Select Committee scrutinises the Education Department.

Question 5

what is the Liaison committee?

Answer 5

this committee advises on powers and the role of the select committees and often calls on the PM to give account.

This group only meets annually, and this is where all the chairs of each departmental select committee can question the PM. In 2021, Johnson has confirmed three sessions this year.

Question 6

What did the Wright Reform 2009 do?

Answer 6

the chair of each committee is now elected by backbenchers in an anonymous vote, whereas previously, they were chosen by the party chief whip.

Question 7

How is committee work more effective than debates within the chamber?

Answer 7

debates in the commons are not very long - select committees can devote weeks and months to thoroughly discuss an issue. Reports that are produced are based on vast sources of evidence that any of the members can collate.

they offer large amounts of evidence and reasoning to Parliament/our government.

increase the efficiency of the law published - regardless of political ideology behind it.

public officials, civil servants, and those who are affected in those topics are asked questions and answers are given directly = legitimate.

they follow evidence.

Question 8

how are members selected?

Answer 8

the chair is elected by their fellow MPs in an anonymous vote, but parties elect their own select committee members e.g. labour and cons MPs vote for fellow lab or cons MPs.

Question 9

how do select committees work?

Answer 9

clarks prepare for the committee - they help digest the provided evidence, work with the committee to prepare drafts for the report, and ultimately publish the report.

they can select topics from news agendas, departmental issues, or just random issues that members are passionate about.

when the topic is confirmed, the committee members draft a list of questions that are publicised in a call for evidence, which is usually done via a press release, social media is also used.

those submitting written evidence will also be asked to join the meeting to offer oral evidence. There are usually 6 of these evidence sessions before they are asked more questions based on the evidence they submit.

Question 10

Liaison Committee

17th November 2021

Answer 10

• Boris Johnson gave evidence to the Committee in a discussion about propriety and ethics in Government, VAWG, COP26, and the budget review.
• 15 chairs attended the committee meeting!
• Much more in depth discussion rather than the rapidity of the PMQTs

Question 11

what is the outcome of the work done?

Answer 11

once the report is published, the government must respond in 8 weeks and this is published to the public - dependent on their response, the committee can decide to investigate issues further.

they are vital for the scrutiny against the government because it not only assures us that the parliamentary process is at its best, but it is also concerned with the real-life impact of the legislation which is important.

Question 12

what are some other examples of select committees in action?

Brittin and Murdock

Answer 12

February 2016 = Matt Brittin, the lead spokesman for Google (chief executive herd of Google Europe), did not disclose his salary and was grilled by the chair - you don’t know how much you get paid?

he said if it’s relevant, he will answer later - this was because he was accused of defending Google’s tax evasion, stating that even if they wanted, they would not be able to pay more.

Rupert Murdoch - hearing at the Culture Select Committee - the most humble day of my life - the Select Committee re-opened its phone-hacking inquiry for a second time in July last year after the revelation that the News of the World had hacked a murdered school girl (Milly Dowler)’s iPhone in 2011.

Question 13

advantages 1

expertise

Answer 13

chairs can be really high quality - MPs can select experts within their department such as Sarah Wollaston 2014-2019 (chair of the Health Committee). She is a former GP and has close ties with the BMA as they met in 2018 to discuss failures in acknowledging patient and doctor trust in the Memorandum of Understanding.

Question 14

advantages 2

devote significant time

Answer 14

select committees can devote as much time as they’d like into certain topics and investigations = Windrush scandal - Home Affairs select committee invited Rudd to give evidence for its enquiry.

She denied the Home Office had targets for deportation of illegal immigrants - leaked Emails suggested that there were targets and that she was aware of them. She resigned in 2018.

Question 15

weaknesses 1

the government is not required to listen

Answer 15

the government does not have to adhere to the report published - they must respond in 8 weeks, but they do not have to act on the committee’s recommendations.

30-40% of the reports were listened to in 2015.

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee said that ministers turn a bind eye to allegations of Russian disruption in the election? The government had not sought evidence of successful interference in the UK democratic process.

Question 16

weakness 2

backbench MPs do not have sufficient resources + turnover stats

Answer 16

Ministers for the departments have large number of civil servants called to provide information which puts committee members in disadvantaged positions because they do not have access to commission research because it is expensive.

also turnover of members reduces effectiveness = Defence Committee saw 83% turnover during the 2010 and 2015 period - they may not be fully aware and educated and may actually cause disruption.

Question 17

weakness 3

witnesses may actually be of no value

Answer 17

Matt Briton February 2016 - you don’t know how much you get paid?

This creates a situation of interrogation which gains media coverage but not a satisfactory outcome.

Question 18

weakness 4

there is no cross-party cohesion

Answer 18

2016, May established the Department for Exiting the European Union = the EU committee was chaired by Labour’s Hilary Benn.

2018, the conservative committee members John Huntingdale, Andrea Jenkyns criticised the committee for being too biased towards Remain -‘only 7/21 committee members voted to leave’.

Question 19

Two examples of powerful chairs of Select Committees

Answer 19

Labour - Margaret Hodge was the chair of the Public Accounts Committee between 2010 and 2015 - she had more of a profile than the majority of government ministers.

Sarah Wollaston - Chair of the Health Select Committee, has brought her experience as a GP to the task, questioning the role of powerful pharmaceutical lobbies, also works closely with the BMA to ensure the NHS is being listened to.

Question 20

GREENSILL SCANDAL COMMITTEE May 2021

Summary points

Answer 20

David Cameron appeared in front of two committees of MPs over his involvement with Greensill Capital.

He told the Public Accounts Committee he once thought the now defunct firm could be a UK ‘success story’

He also gave evidence to the Treasury Committee which is also holding an inquiry - MPs asked him about working as an adviser for Greensill… to which he responded there was no ‘wrongdoing’ on his part and that he was paid much more than he would have been as an MP.

Question 21

Committee on Standards

Oct 2021

Report on conduct of Owen Paterson, MP for North Shropshire

Answer 21

Findings

Paterson breached rules on paid advocacy, set out in paragraph 11 of the code of conduct.

He lobbied for Randox, and Lynn’s Country Foods.

He broke THREE codes of conduct - one for paid advocacy, another for failing declarations of interest, and misuse of parliamentary facilities.

The committee recommended that Paterson is to be suspended from the service of the House for 30 sitting days.

This then led to the Tory controversy and u-turn… he eventually just resigned.

Question 22

advantage 3

New Evidence | connection to the people

(investigative select committees)

Answer 22

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMITTEE!

Inquiry into the role of public services in addressing child vulnerability.

Oral evidence sessions happened between Sep-Nov 2021.

Rachel de Souza is the children’s commissioner for England and she gave evidence.

One session had Lucy Newman, a secondary school teacher in London, give her insight into vulnerable children.