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Weekly Information Bulletin: 18th June 2011

Select Committees

Select Committees are set up to examine the work of Government Departments and now constitute the main investigatory system by which the House overseas the exercise of Government responsibilities and the development of public policy and expenditure.

The following information on Select Committees is available on the Parliament website:

Select Committee membership: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/select-committee-membership/

Links to Select Committee home pages containing information on the work of the Select Committee and its publications: http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/committees/select/

For further information on Select Committees see HCIO Factsheet P2 produced by the House of Commons Information Office, available in hardcopy on request or to download from the Parliament website.

Membership announcements and changes:

None

Select Committee Meetings
13 – 17 June 2011

Monday 13 June

Public Accounts
Subject: The use of information to manage the logistics supply
Witnesses: Ursula Brennan, Permanent Under-Secretary, Major General Ian Copeland (Director of Joint Supply Chain), Bernard Gray, Chief of Defence Material, Air Vice Marshall Graham Howard, Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Logistic Operations)

Draft Defamation Bill*
Subject: To consider the Bill
Witnesses: Sarah Jones, Head of Litigation, BBC and Tom Bower, Author; Dr Ben Goldacre, Author and Medical Doctor, Dr Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature, Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief, BMJ and Dr Simon Singh MBE, Author, Journalist and TV producer (at 5.45pm)

Tuesday 14 June

Treasury
Subject: Private Finance Initiative
Witnesses: Richard Abadie, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Andy Friend, Chairman, InfraMed; James Wardlaw, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs; Professor Dieter Helm, Oxford University (10.00am); Steve Allen, Managing Director, Finance, Transport for London; Professor James Barlow, Imperial College; Anthony Rabin, Deputy Chief Executive, Balfour Beatty; Jo Webber, Deputy director of Policy, NHS confederation (11.15am)

Energy and Climate Change
Subject: A European Supergrid
Witnesses: Stuart Cook and Martin Crouch, Ofgem, Alison Kay, National Grid; Daniel Dobbeni, European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E), Alberto Pototshnig, Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)

Health
Subject: Regulatory bodies
Witnesses: Niall Dickson, Chief Executive and Registrar, Paul Philip, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Standards and Fitness to Practise, and Professor Malcolm Lewis, Council Member, General Medical Council; Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes, Chief Executive and Registrar, Dr Katerina Kolyva, Assistant Director for Nursing and Midwifery Policy, and Jackie Smith, Director of Fitness to Practise, Nursing and Midwifery Council (at 11.45am)

Justice
Subject: Role of the probation service
Witnesses: Crispin Blunt MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, Colin Allars, Director, Probation and Contracted Services,  National Offender Management Service

Welsh Affairs
Subject: Inward Investment in Wales
Witnesses: Sir Roger Jones OBE, former Chair of the Welsh Development Agency (at 10.30am); and Mr Glenn Massey (at 11.15am)

Public Administration
Subject: Smaller Government: Bigger Society?
Witnesses: Sir Ronald Cohen, Independent advisor to the Cabinet Office on the Big Society Bank; Bernie Morgan, Chief Executive, Community Development Finance Association; Claire Dove, Chair, Social Enterprise Network and Mark Lyonette, CEO, Association of British Credit Unions

Culture, Media and Sport
Subject: Channel 4 Annual Report
Witnesses: Lord Burns GCB, Chairman, Channel 4 and David Abraham, Chief Executive, Channel 4

Transport
Subject: Effective road and traffic management
Witnesses: Garrett Emmerson, Chief Operating Officer for London Streets, Transport for London, and Nick Lester, Corporate Director of Services and Cllr Catherine West, Chair of London Council’s Transport and Environment Committee, London Councils; and Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Mike Penning MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Department for Transport (at 11.30am)

Home Affairs*
Subject: (i) Unauthorised tapping into or hacking of mobile communications (ii) The New Landscape of Policing
Witnesses: (i) Everything Everywhere (owners of O2), Orange, Vodafone (at 11.00am); (ii) Tom Winsor, Author of the Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions (at 11.30am); Paul McKeever, Chairman, Police Federation (at 12 noon)

Business, Innovation and Skills
Subject: Draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill
Witnesses: National Farmers’ Union; Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (at 11.40am); Processed Vegetables Growers’ Association (at 12.10pm)

Joint Committee on Human Rights
Subject: The implementation of the right of disabled people to independent living
Witnesses: Mike Smith, Commissioner and Chair of the Disability Committee, Equality and Human Rights Commission; McVea, Director, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; Bob Collins, Chief Commissioner, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and Duncan Wilson, Head of Strategy and Legal, Scottish Human Rights Commission (at 2.15pm) Diane Mulligan OBE, UK Candidate for the UN Committee of Experts on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; David Ruebain, Solicitor, Former Director of Legal Policy, EHRC, Chief Executive of the Equality Challenge Unit; Pauline Thompson OBE, Co-author, Community Care and the Law (4th Edition) and Karen Ashton, Solicitor, Public Law Solicitors (at 3.15pm)

Backbench Business

Subject: Proposals for backbench debates

Witnesses: Members of Parliament

Wednesday 15 June

Science and Technology
Subject: Practical experiments in school science lessons and science field trips
Witnesses: Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary, National Union of Teachers, Dr Stuart Hitch, Earth Science Teachers' Association affiliated teacher, Greg Jones, National Union of Teachers affiliated teacher, Professor Chris King, Earth Science Teachers' Association, Darren Northcott, National Official (Education), National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers

Justice*
Subject: Draft Sentencing Guideline: burglary and drug offences
Witnesses: Mike Trace, International Drug Policy Commission, Olga Heaven, Hibiscus, Roger Howard, CEO UK Drug Policy Commission (at 9.30am); Dr James Treadwell, University of Leicester, Javed Khan, Victim Support, and Professor Mike Hough, Institute for Criminal Policy Research (at 10.30am)

Draft Defamation Bill*
Subject: To consider the Bill
Witnesses: Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP QC, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport

Work and Pensions
Subject: Child Maintenance
Witnesses: Maria Miller MP, Minister for Disabled People, Department for Work and Pensions

Energy and Climate Change
Subject: The UK’s energy supply: security or independence
Witnesses: RenewableUK, Renewable Energy Association, and Combined Heat and Power Association; UK Coal, Confederation of UK Coal Producers, and Carbon Capture and Storage Association

Science and Technology
Subject: Scientific advice and evidence in emergencies
Witnesses: Professor Sir John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Christina Scott, Director, Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office, and Julia Longbottom, Head of China Team, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Defence
Subject: The Military Covenant in action? Part 1: military casualties
Witnesses: Professor Simon Wessely, Kings College London

Treasury*
Subject: The future of cheques
Witnesses: Richard North, Independent Chairman; Gary Hocking, Acting Chief Executive; Sandra Quinn, Director of Communications, The Payments Council

Environmental Audit*
Subject: Carbon Budgets
Witnesses: The Rt Hon. Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change

Procedure
Subject: Lay Membership of the Committee of Standards and Privileges
Witnesses: 3.15pm Sir Christopher Kelly KCB, Chair, Committee on Standards in Public Life 3.45pm Mr Bernard Jenkin MP, Chair, Public Administration Select Committee

Public Accounts*
Subject: Lessons from PFI and other projects
Witnesses: Graham Beazley-Long, Director, David Metter, Chief Executive, Innisfree, Bill Doughty, Chief Executive Officer, Semperian PPP Investment Partners; Andrew Hudson, Director of Public Services and Growth and Accounting Officer, Andrew Rose, Head of Private Finance Policy, HM Treasury, David Pitchford, Executive Director, Major Projects Authority, Cabinet Office (at 4.15pm)

Northern Ireland Affairs

Subject: Air passenger duty: implications for Northern Ireland

Witnesses: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland Executive; Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (at 3.15pm); TBC (at 4.00pm)

Thursday 16 June

Liaison
Subject: Scrutiny of public appointments by select committees
Witnesses: Lord Adonis and Akash Paun, Institute for Government, and Professor Robert Hazell and Peter Waller, The Constitution Unit, UCL (at 9.45am); Rt Hon. Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, and officials (at 10.30am)

Political and Constitutional Reform
Subject: UK Bill of Rights Commission
Witnesses: Lord Lester of Herne Hill; Martin Howe QC (at 10.30am); Professor Philippe Sands QC (at 11.00am); and Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (at 11.30am)

Friday 17 June

None

[The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be rescinded without notice]

All public select committee meetings are webcast
Select committees marked with * will be taken by BBC Parliament
Recorded information about forthcoming select and standing committee meetings over the next two sitting days is available on:[Tel 020 7219 2033]. Please note: The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be rescinded, and the place altered without notice and Committees which sit at short notice may not be included in this list.


Forthcoming Select Committee Meetings
20 – 24 June 2011

Monday 20 June

Treasury
Subject: Accountability of the Bank of England
Witnesses: Professor Rosa Lastra, Queen Mary University of London, Professor Bob Garratt, CASS Business School; Dr Andrew Hilton and Jane Fuller, Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation

3:15pm

The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Draft Defamation Bill*
Subject: To consider the Bill
Witnesses: Rt Hon Lord Triesman, Former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Intellectual Property and Quality); Rt Hon Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, Former Attorney General, Rt Hon Lord Falconer of Thoroton PC QC, Former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State of Justice and Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, Former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State of Justice

4:05pm

Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster

Communities and Local Government
Subject: Regeneration
Witnesses: Dennis Seal, Director, Kier Residential Regeneration, Kier Group, Ken Dytor, Chair of Regeneration Committee, British Property Federation and Chris Brown, Chief Executive, Igloo; John Tizard, Trustee and Peter Grant, Consultant, National Association for Voluntary and Community Action and Toby Blume, Chief Executive, Urban Forum (at 5.10pm); Ros Groves on behalf of a group of Liverpool residents and Barbara Harbinson, Chief Executive, Halifax Opportunities Trust (at 5.35pm)

4:20pm

The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Tuesday 21 June

Treasury
Subject: Accountability of the Bank of England
Witnesses: Dr Gavin Bingham, Secretary General, Bank for International Settlements

10:00am

Committee Room 16, Palace of Westminster

Education *
Subject: "Jamie’s Dream School": Lessons for Education and Youth Policy
Witnesses: Five of the Dream School students (at 10am). John D'Abbro OBE, headteacher, New Rush Hall Group; Jazzie B OBE, DJ, entrepeneur and musician; Mary Beard FBA, Professor of Classics, University of Cambridge; Alvin Hall, financial adviser, author and broadcaster; Dr David Starkey CBE, historian and broadcaster, and Lord Winston, Professor of Science and Society, Imperial College London (at 10.40am)

10:00am

Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster

Transport*
Subject: High Speed Rail
Witnesses: Stephen Joseph, Chief Executive, Campaign for Better Transport, Chris Nash, Research Professor, University of Leeds, and Christian Wolmar, railway author and broadcaster; Michael Roberts, Chief Executive, Association of Train Operating Companies, Richard Eccles, Director of Network Planning, Network Rail, Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Passenger Focus, and Lord Berkeley, Chairman, Rail Freight Group (at 10.55am); and Nicholas Petrovic, Chief Executive, Eurostar and Pierre Messulam, Rail Strategy and Regulation Director, SNCF (at 11.45am)

10:15am

The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Culture, Media and Sport
Subject: Spectrum
Witnesses: John Cresswell, CEO, Arqiva, Julian McGougan, Head of public policy and regulatory affairs, Arqiva (at 10.30am); Richard Moat, Deputy CEO, Everything Everywhere, Nicolas Ott, Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Regulatory, Everything Everywhere, Kevin Russell, CEO, Three, Phil Sheppard, Director of Network Strategy, Three (at 11.45am)

10:30am

The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Health
Subject: Public Health
Witnesses: Professor Peter Goldblatt, Senior Research Fellow, Marmot Review Team, University College London, Dr Jessica Allen, Project Director, Marmot Review Team, University College London, and Professor Stephen Morris, Professor of Health Economics, University College London; Dr David Halpern, Head, Behavioural Insights Team, Cabinet Office, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair, Alcohol Health Alliance, Mark Baird, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Diageo Great Britain Limited, and Chris Arnold, Creative Partner, Creative Orchestra (at 11.45am)

10:30am

Committee Room 5, Palace of Westminster

Home Affairs*
Subject: Restorative Justice, Norfolk, The New Landscape of Policing
Witnesses: (i) Ann Barnes, Chair, Kent Police Authority, Anthony Jackson, Chair, Essex Police Authority, Assistant Chief Constable Gary Beautridge, Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, and Candace Bloomfield-Howe, Head of Procurement for Kent and Essex Police (at 11.00am); Inspector Damian O’Reilly, Greater Manchester Police and Superintendent Howard Stone, Thames Valley Police (at 11.30am); (ii) Councillor Brian Hannah, Norfolk County Council Champion for Restorative Justice, Sergeant Andy Smith, Norfolk Constabulary, Carey Cake, Children's Services Officer, Norfolk County Council (at 12.00pm)

11:00am

Committee Room 15

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Subject: Outcome of the Farming Regulation Task Force
Witnesses: Andrea Ross, Reader, School of Law, University of Dundee; Richard Macdonald, Chair of the Farming Regulation Task Force (at 11.40am)

11:00am

The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Northern Ireland Affairs

Subject: Air Passenger Duty: implications for Northern Ireland

Witnesses: John Doran, Managing Director, Belfast International Airport; Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive, George Best Belfast City Airport (at 11.15am)

10:45am

Stormont, Belfast

Backbench Business

Subject: Proposals for backbench debates

Witnesses: Members of Parliament

1:00pm

6

Wednesday 22 June

Draft Defamation Bill
Subject: To consider the Bill
Witnesses: Desmond Browne QC, Joint Head of Chambers, 5RB, Hugh Tomlinson QC, Matrix Chambers and Paul Tweed, Partner, Johnsons Solicitors

9:30am

Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster

Education
Subject: Health visitors
Witnesses: Maggie Fisher, Chair of Health Visitors Forum, Unite / Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association; Liz Bailey, Head of Children's Services, Medway Community Healthcare; Nicola Amies, Head of Early Years, Bright Horizons Family Soultions and member of expert panel for Dame Clare Tickell's review of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and Anne Page, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Family and Parenting Institute

9:45am

The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Energy and Climate Change*
Subject: Ofgem Retail Market Review
Witnesses: Alistair Buchanan, Chief Executive, Ofgem, and Charles Hendry MP, Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change

9:45am

Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster

Foreign Affairs*
Subject: Piracy off the coast of Somalia
Witnesses: Andrew Voke, Chairman, LMA Marine Committee, Lloyds Market Association; Stephen Askins, Marine Lawyer, Ince & Co (at 3.15pm); Major General Buster Howes OBE, Operation Commander European Union Naval Force Somalia (at 4.00pm)

2:30pm

The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Defence*
Subject: The Strategic Defence and Security Review and the National Security Strategy
Witnesses: Nick Harvey MP, Minister for the Armed Forces, General Sir David Richards, KCB, CBE, DSO, ADC Gen, Chief of the Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Sir William Rollo, KCB, CBE, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel and Training), and Jon Thompson, Director General Finance, Ministry of Defence

2:30pm

The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Northern Ireland Affairs*

Subject: Air passenger duty: implications for Northern Ireland

Witnesses: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland Executive; Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (at 3.15pm); TBC (at 4.00pm)

2.30 pm

8

Environmental Audit
Subject: Sustainable Food
Witnesses: Andrew Clark, Head of Policy Services, National Farmers Union; Andrew Kuyk, Director, Sustainability and Competitiveness Division, Food and Drink Federation; Colin Tudge, The Campaign for Real Farming, and Abigail Bunker, Head of Agriculture Policy, RSPB (at 3.30pm)

2:45pm

The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Subject: Outcome of the Farming Regulation Task Force
Witnesses: Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB); Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor), Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF), The Co-operative Group (at 3.40 p.m.); Country Land and Business Association (CLA), National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) (at 4.20pm)

3:00pm

Committee Room 16, Palace of Westminster

Public Accounts
Subject: FCO Cost Reduction
Witnesses: Simon Fraser, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

3:00pm

Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster

European Scrutiny
Subject: Parliamentary scrutiny of opt-in decisions
Witnesses: Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills, Baroness Wilcox

4:00pm

Committee Room 19, Palace of Westminster


Thursday 23 June

Justice
Subject: Draft Sentencing Guideline: burglary and drug offences
Witnesses: Rt Hon Lord Justice Leveson, Chairman, Sentencing Council

9:15am

The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Political and Constitutional Reform
Subject: The role and powers of the Prime Minister
Witnesses: Professor Michael Foley, Aberystwyth University and Professor Sue Pryce, University of Nottingham

10:00am

The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Business, Innovation and Skills
Subject: Government's Draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill
Witnesses: Paul Kelly, Director of External Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, Asda,Andrew Opie, Director of Food and Sustainability Policy, British Retail Consortium, Sean Toal, Commercial Director, The Co-operative Food, Tim Fallowfield, Group Company Secretary, J Sainsbury plc

10:00am

The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Friday 24 June

None

[The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be rescinded without notice]

All public select committee meetings are webcast
Select committees marked with * will be taken by BBC Parliament
Recorded information about forthcoming select and standing committee meetings over the next two sitting days is available on:[Tel 020 7219 2033]. Please note: The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be rescinded, and the place altered without notice and Committees which sit at short notice may not be included in this list.

Prepared 17th June 2011