30 Years of Scrutiny - Select Committee Conference
The Hansard Society, House of Commons and Study of Parliament Group held a very succesful conference celebrating 30 years of select committees, in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, with over 130 attendees. It was very interesting with a wide variety of views: people who were instrumental in setting up the current committee system; parliamentary specialists; academics; Clerks of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and members of the Hansard Society. The event consisted of three panels:
The origins and evolution of select committees
Chair: David Natzler (Clerk of Committees) Speakers: Gavin Drewry (Royal Holloway, University of London), Chris Price (former Chair of the Education Select Committee), Bill Proctor (former clerk to the Procedure Committee)
This looked at how the departmental select committees were established and provided some inetersting thoughts for those tasked with taking forward further reforms such as regional committees.
The challenges for scrutiny Listen to the audio
Chair: Dr Meg Russell (Constitution Unit, UCL) Speakers: Peter Luff MP (Chair of the Business and Enterprise Committee), Sir Nicholas Monck (former Permanent Secretary and member of the Better Government initiative) , Helen Irwin (former Clerk of Committees)
This session looked at some of the key challenges faced by select committees over the last thirty years, for example what impact have select committees had on government.
The future of select committees Listen to the audio
This final session from the Hansard Society looked at how the departmental select committee system has perhaps been part of a growth in the culture of scrutiny by committees. It considered what possibilities select committees offer for further reform and development of the House of Commons.
Chair: Dr Ruth Fox (Hansard Society) Speakers:Professor the Lord Norton of Louth (University of Hull) Peter Riddell (The Times and the chair of the Hansard Society) Tony Wright MP (Chair of the Public Administration Select Committee)
Read the papers from this event.