A Select Committee Report
Cross-party Committees of
the House, such as the Environment Committee, are known as Select Committees.
Select Committees work in both Houses to improve legislation and
scrutinize public spending and the work of government departments.
Parliament Live has a 15-minute video
'Scrutiny
Uncovered', which offers insights into the work of Select Committees in
holding the Government to account.
House of Commons Select
Committees
There is a Commons Select Committee for each government
department, looking at spending, policies and administration. The results and
recommendations of the Select Committee's inquiries are made public and, if
required, the government has 60 days to issue a response.
See a full
list of
House
of Commons Select Committees.
House of Lords Select
Committees
Lords Select Committees look into specialist subjects,
often making use of the availability of specialist expertise within the Lords
that is not always available among MPs.
There are four Lords Select
Committees:
- The European Union Committee
- The Science and
Technology Committee
- The Constitution Committee
- The Economic
Affairs Committee.
See a full list of
House
of Lords Select Committees.
Joint Committees
Joint Committees consist of both MPs and Lords.
They have similar powers
to Select Committees but can be either ad-hoc, to deal with a particular issue
e.g. stem-cell research, or permanent, e.g the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
See a full list of
Joint
Committees.
As of April 2007, a new Joint Committee has been
established to consider the
Draft
Climate Change Bill (Cm 7040) and to report on it to both Houses.
Read more on the
Joint
Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill.