House of Lords Select Committees parliament explained event 160715
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This document provides an overview of the House of Lords select committee system and process. It describes the different types of select committees, including investigative, legislative, policy, and liaison committees. It outlines the typical membership and selection process for committees. It then details the various steps committees take in their work, including calling for evidence, collecting oral/written testimony, deliberating, and reporting. Committees aim to engage the public and have an impact through their reports and recommendations.
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House of Lords Select Committees parliament explained event 160715
- 1. © House of Lords 2015 Aaron Speer Clerk of the Select Committee on SexualViolence in Conflict 16 July 2015 Parliament Explained: House of Lords procedure for select committees
- 2. © House of Lords 2015 Different types of select committee Domestic • Investigative • Legislative Policy committees
- 3. © House of Lords 2015 Liaison Committee Joint sessional committees Human Rights National Security Strategy Sessional committees Communications Constitution Economic Affairs Science & Technology EU committees EU Select Committee Energy and Environment Sub-Committee External Affairs Sub-Committee Financial Affairs Sub-Committee Home Affairs Sub-Committee Internal Market Sub-Committee Justice Sub- Committee Ad hoc committees Built Environment Equality Act 2010 (post-leg) Sexual Violence in Conflict Social Mobility Pre-leg committee Investigative committees (cross-cutting and non-departmental)
- 4. © House of Lords 2015 Select committees on delegated legislation (legislative committees) • Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee – appropriate use of powers – draft Legislative Reform Orders • Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments – looks at technicalities of all Statutory Instruments • Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee – policy merit – appropriateness/gold plating
- 5. © House of Lords 2015 Characteristics of Lords committees “Cross-cutting” rather than departmental Complement the Commons Distinctive style Consensual
- 6. © House of Lords 2015 Membership (unelected) Usually 12 Members on each committee General political balance (4 Lab, 4 Cons, 2 X-B and 2 LD). Government does not have a majority About 170 Members currently involved – rotation rule = 3 sessions Selected by Committee of Selection, on nomination of Chief Whips and Convenor of the Crossbenchers
- 7. © House of Lords 2015 The process of committee work Investigation and exploratory work; seminars Call for Evidence Oral/written evidence collected; visits Deliberation Report Where time is tight some of these steps may be dispensed with or semi-combined, especially by legislative committees.
- 8. © House of Lords 2015 Outcomes Committees report to the House, but have a wider audience Government response and debate Impact Evaluation and “follow-up”
- 9. © House of Lords 2015 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 & follow us on Twitter
- 10. © House of Lords 2015 A useful tool… http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/lordscommitteebulletin/
- 11. © House of Lords 2015© House of Lords 2015 Session 2014-15: what we said
- 12. © House of Lords 2015© House of Lords 2015 Session 2014-15: what we did
- 13. © House of Lords 2015 Session 2014-15: where we went
- 14. © House of Lords 2015 Any questions?
Notas do Editor
- Brief introduction. Experience: 2nd Clerk to Joint Committee on Draft Communications Data Bill; Clerk to EU Sub-Committee D (now Energy and Environment Sub-Committee); Clerk to Digital Skills Committee; and Presently Clerk to Sexual Violence in Conflict Committee.
- What is a select committee? Within the context of the Lords: a body of Members of the House who have been selected to sit on that body and to which a task or function has been given or committed. There are two main types of select committee: Domestic committees – concerned with the administration of the House. Not the focus of this talk. Policy committees: Investigative – considers matters of public policy within a particular area. Select committees are mostly investigative. Legislative – considers primary, secondary and draft legislation. This talk will focus on investigative committees, which are supported by the Committee Office.
- Current structure of investigative committees (excluding domestic committees). Liaison Committee: Exercises general oversight of Lords policy committee activity; Composed of party leaders and senior Members of the House; and Considers proposals for new committee activity, and constraints. Sessional committees: Communications, Constitution, Economic Affairs, EU and Science & Technology Ad hoc committees: Growth area for the House of Lords. The House is setting up more and more “ad hoc” Committees, which look at a specific issue, report, and are then wrapped up. Some look at stand-alone issues: this year includes Built Environment, Sexual Violence in Conflict and Social Mobility. Previous Session included Arctic and Digital Skills. Some look at post-legislative scrutiny: this year includes Equality Act 2010. Extradition Law and Practice Committee last Session. Joint committees: There are also joint committees of the two Houses, with Members of both. Some are permanent: e.g. the Joint Committee on Human Rights or on the National Security Strategy. Some are set up to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny of a particular piece of draft legislation: e.g. Draft Protection of Charities Bill (last Session). Some are set up to consider urgent matters of public policy (sometimes with a bit of pre-leg thrown in): e.g. the Commission on Banking Standards.
- DISCLAIMER: Not an expert on these types of committees – experience on investigative committees. The most common form of delegated legislation you will be aware of is statutory instruments (SIs). These are often the parts of legislation that impact on us as individuals and on our day-to-day lives (e.g. immigration policies). The Acts don’t really say much. These committees are probably best described as “dull but worthy”. Their significance is proven when they find something wrong. DPRRC: The remit of the Committee in relation to delegated powers is “to report whether the provisions of any bill inappropriately delegate legislative power, or whether they subject the exercise of legislative power to an inappropriate degree of parliamentary scrutiny”. Considers the parts of an Act which allows for delegated power (i.e. the power under which delegated legislation (usually SIs) would subsequently be made). Also looks at the parliamentary controls/procedures for these powers (i.e. whether they should be made using affirmative resolution, negative resolution, etc.). The Committee is careful to restrict its consideration to the delegation in question, and not the merits of the overall policy. The Committee also examines drafts of Legislative Reform Orders. TIP: it is traditional that the Government accepts recommendations from the DPRRC. JCSI: The JCSI is appointed to consider SIs made in exercise of powers granted by Act of Parliament. Considers all SIs and looks at technicalities. The JCSI does not assess the merits of any instrument or the underlying policy. SLSC: The SLSC examines the policy merits of regulations and other types of secondary legislation that are subject to parliamentary procedure. Formerly known as the ‘Merits Committee’. It picks and choses which SIs to consider (as opposed to JCSI which considers all SIs). Through its reports, the Committee draws to the "special attention of the House" any SI laid in the previous week which it considers may be interesting, flawed or inadequately explained by the Government. Note: Gold plating – doing more than is needed (started with transposing of EU law into domestic law). NOTE ON LROs: Legislative Reform Orders, formerly known as Regulatory Reform Orders, are an unusual form of delegated legislation as they may amend primary legislation. The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 and the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 extended the provisions of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 enabling the Government to amend or repeal a provision in primary legislation which is considered to impose a burden on business or others. This is done through a Legislative Reform Order formerly known as a Deregulation Order. The relevant department must first draft a proposal for the order and consult representatives of those who are affected. After considering the results the Government may change all or part of the proposal or withdraw it completely.
- Cross-cutting: e.g. Science & Technology inquiry into International STEM Students (touched upon immigration policies). Complement the Commons: Avoid duplication of the work of other bodies, particularly Commons committees (so committee remits are normally thematic rather than departmentally based, as in the Commons). BUT there is increasing pressure for overlap. Current debate about a Lords ‘International Affairs’ sessional committee. The Lords has the DPRRC – no similar body exists in the Commons (the Lords has more time?). Post-legislative scrutiny also tends to be more cross-cutting (i.e. not done in a departmental manner). Distinctive style: Behaviour tends to be less formal than in the House. More interested in ‘information gathering’. Most committees are outward-facing and engage with interested parties. Often conduct longer inquiries (i.e. for a full year/Session). Don’t shy away from tricky subjects (e.g. mandatory life sentence for murder, assisted dying, HIV/AIDs, sexual violence in conflict). Consensual: tend to be consensual (rare for divisions). Less political than the Commons (most of the time?).
- ‘House of expertise’: e.g. Sexual Violence in Conflict – L. Hannay, B. Nicholson, B. Young, L. Sterling. Some committees have the power to co-opt other Members of the House with relevant expertise for a particular inquiry (e.g. Science & Technology and EU). Any Member has the right to attend a committee meeting (but does not have voting rights). Process of membership – Chairman of Committees is appointed; Committee of Selection meets to agree membership – including chairmen (not elected); put to the House for agreement in the form of motions (in the Chairman of Committee’s name). Slightly different with ad hocs (expediency motions from Leader of the House first, then appointment motions on different day).
- It’s not that some steps are combined, but sort of combined – e.g. might start taking oral evidence before Call for Evidence is published. Talk to the committee Secretariat throughout the process. Most committee Secretariats are made up of a Clerk, Policy Analyst and Committee Assistant. Stages at which we might contact Government departments or you may be involved (TIPs): Investigation and exploratory work/seminars: Secretariat may make contact for some initial chats/discussions about Government policy. May also be invited to speak to the committee (informally usually). Call for Evidence: would normally expect Government response to a committee Call for Evidence. Oral/written evidence collected/visits: towards end of oral evidence gathering Ministers likely be invited before committee. Regarding visits, FCO is normal first point of contact for logistical support. May contact other relevant departments for briefing material/advice. Report: Government normally has to respond to report within two months of publication of report – speak to the Secretariat if you think a response will be delayed (see next slide!).
- Wider audience: for example, civil society, EU, etc. Government response and debate: Investigative reports usually debated on the floor and all receive a written response from Government within two months. Sometimes a response from others (e.g. European Commission). Government responses to Lords reports normally require cross-Whitehall correspondence/working; two months may sound like a lot of time, but in practice this isn’t the case. Impact: Reports from committees may feed into the legislative process. EU Committee scrutiny of EU legislative proposals (new ‘green card’ procedure suggested, food waste report resulted in ‘FareShare Surplus Food Summit’ – first of its kind). Legislative committee reports often “tagged” on order of business (i.e. highlights when a legislative committee has reported on it. TIP: if you see this on the order paper make sure you have read the highlighted report – Members will refer to this. Evaluation and “follow-up”: Growing concern about timeliness and length of Government responses (we have started tracking and noting ‘late’ responses). TIP: if necessary, you might want to negotiate with the clerk of the committee an extension to the deadline. Be warned, this means the Members will expect the quality of the response to be high. New Liaison Committee role for ad hoc committees – agreed to yearly follow-up on specific recommendations flagged by ad hoc committees. TIP: the Government may need to respond again a year later to these points flagged in the report.
- Committee Bulletin is a useful first stop if you want details about current committee activity (and if you can’t reach Secretariat). Also be sure to look at the individual committee web pages for details.