Public accounts committees and Liason committees SCRUTINY Flashcards
When were Public account committees created
They are the oldest committee created in 1862 chaired by Meg Hillier
What are the roles of Pac
They scrutinise the expenditure and public finances across all government departments, public bodies and private companies that provide public services.
They pay attention to whether the money allocated by parliament to different departments has been spent effectively, economically, and efficiently.
They don’t look whether policies are right or wrong, they only see how the money has been spent on delivering policies
Extra facts of Pac
They meet twice a week and only take evidence from civil servants (rarely ministers or other witnesses).
They have significant standing in the media as it is taxpayers’ money that’s being scrutinised.
When were Liaison committees created
They were created in 2002 and are made up of chairman off all select committees in the house of commons
What are the roles of Liaisons committees
Its role is to consider matters affecting select committees and make reports on matters of general concern relating to select committees.
They consider the overall work of select committees, promote effective scrutiny of the government, and chooses committee reports for debate.
Their main function is to call the Prime minister to account but since 2002 the Prime minister has appeared twice a year before the committee to discuss international and domestic affairs.
Extra Liaison committee facts
With the Liaison committee stating that “if a government response is inadequate, a committee can and should draw attention to this when it reports and publishes the response”
it demonstrates how the committee is fulfilling its function of scrutinising as its striving for independence from the executive.
Differences. Part One
Public account committees are one of the oldest committees in the house of commons after being created in 1862. Chaired by Meg Hillier, they scrutinise the expenditure and finances across government departments, public bodies and private businesses that deal with public services.
They meet twice a week and pay attention to if the money allocated by parliament to different departments is spent effectively, efficiently, and economically. They receive high media coverage as it is taxpayers’ money that is being scrutinised.
Differences. Part Two
While public account committees were created in 1862, Liaison committees were established in 2002 and are made up of chairman of all select committees in the house of commons.
They are different to public bill committees as they don’t deal with the expenditure of money but instead deal with factors that affect select committees, they consider the overall work of select committees and make reports on matters of general concern from these committees.
Differences. Part Three
. While the public account committee meet twice a week, the liaison committee have only called the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to account twice a year since 2002.
The main difference is that the public account committee scrutinises government departments on their expenditure and don’t deal with if policies are right or wrong meanwhile the liaison committee considers matters affecting each select committee and don’t deal with money.
