scrutiny Flashcards
what are departmental select committees
committes that were created in 1979 that are dedicated to overseeing the work of the specific daprtment’s expendature ond policy as well as scrutinising public bodies related to the department
example of departmental committee scrutiny
in 2020 the education select committee would have scrutinised the a lelvle algorithm and ofqual for signing off on it
what functions of scrutiny do select committee’s hold
power to
- conduct inquiries into policies
- conduct pre-legislative scrutiny
- scurtinise the departments nominations for public office
ALL OF THESE HOWEVER ARE ADVISORY
example of nomination to public office
2016 amanda speilman was nominated to be head of oftead.
education select committee didn’t agree but she was appointed anyway
what does the split of the memebers in select committes have to represent
the split of the parties in the commons
how are select committee members selected
in 2010 through the reccomendation of the wright committee memebrs are not voted on by MP’s in the commons and the chair is elected through secret ballot
what is the role of the public accounts committee
dont focus on policies but focus on checking that money is being spend effectivley in departments and the chair is always a member of the opposittion
what is the joint liason committee
all chairs of departmental slect committees sit on one committee and question the PM 2x a year
very effective scrutiny during covid
how do committees inthe lords differ to the commons
arent focused on shadowing a department but are focued on particular areas of policy
how many permenant lords committees are there?
6 based on things from the constiution committe to the economic affairs committe
what happens when something doesnt fit into one of the 6 lords committes
ad hoc or temorary committs are set up and sibanded after a report has been published
ex in 2017 a ad hoc committe was set up to understadn artifical intelligence
how many urget debates did bercow allow
significantly increased the use of urgent questions allowing 159 which increases scrutiny onthe governemnt
how are question times important for scruity
despite some questions being submitted 3 days before and the minister has had time to prepare 25% of the time is tabled for topical questions where Mps can ask questions about current events that arent prepared
and MPs whos questions are picked cna ask 1 supplimentary supreise question
why is PMQS considered effective scrutiny?
leader of the oppsotion is allowed 6 suplimetnary questions to be asked to the PM without preparation
its bery unique in a democracy to have the opportunity to directly scrutnise your leader
why is PMQ unaffective scruinty
more about partisan point scoring where memebers of the party ask questions tat display the leader in a good light to bet further up the party
qesutions are sbumitted before and ministers and civil srevetns wont tirelessley to make an answer up for leader
more political theature
how can the lords question parliament
lords reserve 30 mins at the end of each day for 4 oral questions with the key difference that the questions put to the government as a whole rather than a specific department
ministers are required to go and aswer
ballot urgent questions are also used
what are public bill committees
the committees were given their new title after reforms were passed to allow them to begin taking oral and written evidence from outside experts while scrutinising bills. This arguably leads to more informed scrutiny and improved legislation.
what limits the effectivness of public bill committees
they arent elected like select committes but rther chosen by whips so less likely to provide scrutiny
example of select committee being ignored
foreing affris committee advised against intervention into syria but were ignored
how many backbench days
35
how many oppsotion days
20
opposition day succsess
- only 1x in 1978 has opposition day been effective. Which was in 2008 over the Gurkha campaign condemning gordon brown’s refusal to grant gurkah’s residency in the UK
how can the opposition hold the government to account?
- shadow ministers expect to expose mistakes of the opposite member of government
- if the government has a small majority then the oppsoiton can work together with the lords to delay and oppose legsialtion
