House of Commons - The Work of Committees in Session 2008-09

The Work of Committees in Session 2008-09 - Liaison Committee Contents

6 Work and Resources

153. The Reform of the House of Commons Committee said in its report Rebuilding the House:

Select committees have rightly won respect for the work they do and they are being asked to take on an increasing number of tasks on behalf of the House. As a result committee members find it increasingly difficult to devote time to select committee work as well as all their other duties. We consider that the Liaison Committee should re-examine the current role of select committees, their resources and their tasks, and in particular how to deal with the increasing demands of time made of Members as their role grows.[167]

154. In our First Report of this Session, commenting on the select committee aspects of the Reform Committee's proposals, we acknowledged this call.[168] On 22 February, the House agreed a resolution in the following terms:

That this House approves recommendation 11 of the First Report of the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons, Session 2008-09, HC 1117, and welcomes the Liaison Committee's proposal to carry out a review of the role, resources and tasks of select committees set out in paragraphs 26 to 28 of its First Report, Session 2009-10, HC 272

155. The core tasks agreed by the House in 2002 could perhaps be summarised as:

scrutiny of policy;
scrutiny of expenditure;
scrutiny of legislation or proposed legislation;
holding the government to account, and
public engagement.

156. Throughout this report we have noted areas where other specific and direct responsibilities placed upon select committees by the House have grown—even in the last few years. These include:

pre-appointment hearings;
the scrutiny of proposed National Policy Statements under the Planning Act 2008;
the scrutiny of proposals for legislative competence orders relating to the National Assembly for Wales;
consideration of public petitions;
post-legislative scrutiny; and
scrutiny of the regional level of government operations,

We have also noted the need for select committees to raise their game in respect of financial scrutiny, and expressed our hope that the Treasury's Alignment Project will facilitate this. To do this work properly will also require increased concentration on this aspect of the core tasks.

157. The House's resolution urged a wider scope of review for which there is insufficient time in the current Parliament. We hope that our successors, when appointed, will initiate a review of select committees' tasks, resources and modes of operation. Thirty years after foundation of the departmental select committees the scale of operation, the professionalism with which they approach their task, and the resources they have at their disposal have changed almost beyond recognition. The review should try to examine what resources of time and attention would be required if departmental committees were to be able to discharge all these duties effectively. The review of the introduction of pre-appointment hearings which we describe elsewhere in this report offers, we believe, one useful model for the conduct of aspects of this review, where some external challenge is incorporated, and where evidence is gathered from others involved in select committees, not just members of Parliament and staff of committees.

Resources

158. We have also noted throughout this report the range of staff resources on which the select committees can draw. These are considerably more substantial than when the committees began 30 years ago. As well as the teams supporting each committee, we now have the Committee Office Scrutiny Unit, which has a particular responsibility for assisting in financial scrutiny, as well as in pre-legislative scrutiny and more widely. It also supports the public bill committees in their evidence-taking mode. We believe it is a model for flexible and expert resourcing which should continue to be built upon. We have also noted the improving relationship between the Department of Information Services and the Committee Directorate of the Department of Chamber and Committee Services. The Research Division is an immensely valuable resource of expertise for the select committees to draw upon, and we look forward to increased use of this resource to provide the flexible and agile support that select committees need to respond to unpredictable demands. Earlier in this report we noted the increased contribution of the National Audit Office to the support of select committees other than the Committee of Public Accounts. Again, we believe that this is a welcome development that should be built upon and become increasingly valuable. Both the C&AG and the Chairman of the NAO have given assurances during their pre-appointment hearings to support this rising trend. This may need some adjustment of working methods within the NAO if it is to be able to respond to work at the different drumbeat of the departmental select committees as well as fulfilling its core role of supporting the PAC.

159. There are two key challenges facing the permanent service of the House in supporting select committees. First, there must be a commitment to increased flexibility of resourcing. Staff must be able to be moved to points of pressure quickly, and managers must develop the skills to make this effective. While the regular five yearly reviews of staffing should continue, the House cannot presume on an ever-increasing availability of resources for select committees, and agility in maximising the efficient use of those it possesses is crucial. Select committees, and particularly their Chairs, must be willing and ready to share resources in this way.

160. Second, in the context of the review we propose above, select committees and the House more widely must be realistic about the resources it has and the tasks it gives to select committees. Where new tasks are imposed, or where expectations are raised, it must take a reality check. When such proposals surface, the House authorities should examine properly the resource implications, and present them to the appropriate bodies (such as the Finance and Services Committee) in advance of the assumption of the new tasks or responsibilities. The Liaison Committee should have a key role to play in this process. If the resource requirement cannot be met, then on occasions some hard choices may have to be made about what select committees can and cannot do.

161. But the key pinch point in the capacity of select committees to meet the expectations of the House, the electorate and their own members is the time and attention available from the Members of Parliament who themselves serve on the select committees.

Mainstreaming select committees

162. In essence, over the last thirty years the select committees of the House have moved from being just an adjunct to the plenary. They are no longer an optional extra to be picked up and put down according to the mood of the House. They are part of the House's core business. The consequence should be that they are a core part of the job of those Members who are fortunate enough to be chosen to sit on them. For a mainstream select committee, such as a departmental committee, a Member of Parliament's work on the committee, if it is to be done well, should represent a significant portion of their working time.

163. Members of Parliament are, of course, pulled in many different directions in trying to prioritise amongst their different roles. The failure to recognise that the select committees are partners with the plenary and the legislative committees stands in the way of their effective functioning. The usual channels do not recognise, in the organisation of parliamentary business and the demands they place on Members' time, the way in which select committees should be central to the effective functioning of the House of Commons.

164. There are a number of ways in which this might be ameliorated. We consider that, as a rule, members of the principal select committees should be required to serve on legislative committees (such as public bill committees, delegated legislation committees and European committees) only as volunteers, and this should be more possible if there were a reduction in the overall number of places on select committees and a retrenchment of the proliferation of ministerial and quasi-ministerial posts in the government and on the opposition front benches. We recommend that the Committee of Selection take into account whether a Member is a member of a select committee in appointing members of legislative and other general committees.

165. We also note that service on a select committee is a continuing and permanent commitment, unlike service on a legislative or other general committee. The House has, in various contexts, recently chosen to recognise the additional burden it has asked Chairs of select committees and members of the Chairmen's panel to shoulder on its behalf. It might now be ready to recognise that, in return for the expectation of a significant and continuing commitment of time that it requires from members of select committees, it should also reward, proportionately, their work in some way. There would be a clearer expectation that such work was both valued and expected to be done properly. We recommend that this form part of the review we are urging on our successors.

166. More generally, we believe there is a case for seeking to arrange the business of the House in a way which recognises that select committees are as important as the plenary and the general committees to its work. The flexibility available to select committees in deciding their own pattern of sittings is an important freedom, and we do not think the point has yet been reached where this needs to be regulated by the House. But we believe that the House should be looking to experiment with opportunities to build its pattern of sittings around the needs of select committees. This might tie in with changes that arise from the reforms proposed by the Reform Committee for back-bench time to be identified and ring-fenced. We recommend that the Procedure Committee and the Leader of the House in the next Parliament examine the options for ring-fencing time for select committee meetings—for example by having "committee weeks" once a month or more regularly.

167. There may be procedural fixes such as these that will help the committees deal with the increasing responsibilities placed on them by the House, and their increasing determination to do as well as possible the task of holding Ministers, non-departmental public bodies and the civil service to account that the House has deliberately dedicated to them. But the most important change will be a culture change. The House must recognise that the work of select committees is fundamental to the discharge of its democratic function, and individual Members must recognise that service on a select committee is both a privilege and a core part of their role as democratic representatives. It demands consistent concentration and commitment.