Blogs and Briefings
Governing by Committee
Connect’s Ben Wright hears from four Select Committee Chairs leading parliament’s fight back.
27 October
Last night’s event, hosted in Parliament by the Hansard Society, offered a useful opportunity to hear from four influential Committee Chairs at a time when, perhaps, the stock of Select Committees has never been higher.
Following on from last week’s seminar with Home Affairs Committee Chair Keith Vaz, there was certainly a feeling that Select Committee Chairs want to grasp this opportunity to widen their influence and establish scrutiny bodies as a far more powerful part of our parliamentary system.
The different styles of chairmanship that the various panellists displayed was particularly interesting. Where Anne Begg, the Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, described her Committee as reactive rather than proactive, Education Committee Chair Graham Stuart described how he ran the Committee’s business like a campaign ‘war room’, constantly scribbling ideas on a white board in his office and asking visitors to offer their suggestions.
Andrew Tyrie, the laconic Chair of the Treasury Committee, said that there was “a fightback going on in parliament” which was a lot to do with election of Selected Committee chairs. He suggested that the process of elected Chairs had resulted in a subtle realignment of power and a change in relationship with whips. On the Treasury Committee’s own work, he suggested that the Bank of England - which he described as “the biggest quango of them all” – needed to be held more accountable for its work.
He also suggested some very interesting changes to Liaison Committee procedures, including the introduction of powers to call ad hoc scrutiny sessions with the Prime Minister.
Clive Betts, Chair of the CLG Committee, offered some interesting thoughts on how Committee scrutiny could be improved. He suggested that major Committee recommendations could be debated and voted on by the whole House. He also noted that Committee’s should make more time to revisit previous enquiries 3-4 years later.
Graham Stuart demystified the process of ministerial power in colourful terms, describing ministers as "a little scared bloke behind a curtain who doesn't know what's going on" and described Select Committees as a “tremendous playpen” from which to exercise that influence.
One common complaint was the lack of resources available – both in terms of time and manpower. Discussing the workload pressures on her Committee, Anne Begg described Committee business as being "like a waterbed - when you push down one end the other pops up".
Clearly frustrated at the turnover of members in this parliament, Anne begg said that Select Committees have to “hunt as a pack”. She felt that it takes to build up the understanding and camaraderie that makes for an effective Committee and noted that, apart from herself, there was not a single ‘original’ Labour member of the Committee left. This obviously causes problems when trying to achieve consistency within the Committee and, undoubtedly, impacts upon the strength of the Committee.
Much of the reason for this high rate of turnover is down to reshuffles and committee members being appointed to PPS positions. There was some interesting exchanges regarding the ‘alternate career path’ that could lead to a member becoming a Select Committee Chair rather than what Graham Stuart called a “bag carrier for a junior minister”. In an entertaining rant, he also went on to describe the position of PPS as a “lousy non-job”.
The session ended with some interesting guidance as to what makes for a good Select Committee submission. The lessons from the Chairs were to keep written submissions short and to the point and, most importantly, offer solutions to problems, not critiques.
If you want to know more about how to get your voice heard by parliament, sign up now for Connect’s ever-popular Select Committee training session on 10th November.
