Core Tasks of Select Committees

The sub-committee invites written evidence by the deadline of 30 October on the following core tasks of select committee work:

Purpose, Policy, Money

Is the current list of select committee core tasks still fit for purpose? If not, what changes might be required?

Purpose: How can the select committee core tasks better reflect the prime purpose of select committees, which is to promote better outcomes, greater state effectiveness, and contribute to improved public confidence in our democratic system?

Policy: Work undertaken by previous Liaison Committees has underlined the importance of committees’ roles in scrutinising policy formulation and strategic thinking in Government. How might the core tasks better reflect this role?

Financial scrutiny: Do the select committee core tasks adequately outline the financial scrutiny role of select committees? If not, what changes might be required?

Are any changes in standard working practices needed to help committees effectively deliver the core tasks? If so, what might they be?

People: pre-commencement scrutiny

What should be the criteria for determining which public appointments should be subject to pre-commencement scrutiny? Are there any criteria which should be added to the Government’s current list? Which is as follows:

What role should select committees play in the scrutiny of public appointments?

Are there any public appointments not currently subject to pre commencement scrutiny which should be subject to it? How much say should committees have in the appointments to these roles?

Procedure and privilege

Is any amendment required to the application of privilege to committee work to ensure that members of the public contributing to committee work receive sufficient assurance that they can provide free and truthful testimony?

The Liaison Committee is examining whether the core tasks that guide select committee work remain fit for purpose. The inquiry will consider how committees can most effectively scrutinise government policy, strategy, spending and public appointments, and whether any changes to committee procedures or parliamentary privilege are needed to support this work.

Read the call for evidence for more detail about the inquiry.

Evidence goes to the committee through Parliament’s own form. There is no way to submit it from here: Parliament publishes no API for written evidence, so the button above opens the committee’s page.

What you send is published under your name and can be quoted in the committee’s report. Keep it under 3,000 words, send it as a document rather than a letter in the body of an email, and answer the questions above rather than writing generally.

This committee accepts submissions after the closing date, though earlier is better.

The committee’s own address is liaisoncommittee@parliament.uk, for a question about the inquiry or trouble with the form.