Tag Archives: Select committees

The problem with committees

Lord Norton 23/09/2011 – 1:03 pm

The recent spat over whether a Bill should be taken in Grand Committee or on the floor of the House rather masks the more important limitation of committee scrutiny.  Whether a Bill is taken for committee stage in Grand Committee or on the floor is not a major issue.  Grand Committee is not a committee in the sense in which the term is usually employed, that is, as an agency of the House.  A G […]

Written at 1:03 pm on 23/09/2011, by Lord Norton

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A good year for Parliament?

Lord Norton 02/08/2011 – 6:20 pm

Mark D’Arcy of BBC Parliament blogs that he thinks that it has been a good year for Parliament.   One can see his argument.  The chairs and members of select committees in the Commons are now elected, the committees have continued to be productive, and two have recently gained a high public profile because of the ‘phone-hacking scandal.  New MPs have also begun to make a mark and are […]

Written at 6:20 pm on 02/08/2011, by Lord Norton

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Power to summons

Lord Norton 15/07/2011 – 12:11 pm

I would just add a few words to what Lord Tyler has written about the power to subpoena witnesses.  I was asked yesterday by a journalist whether a select committee had the power to require someone who was not a UK citizen to appear before it.   I pointed out that select committees in the Commons  are normally vested with the power to 'send for persons, papers and records'.  The Culture, Medi […]

Written at 12:11 pm on 15/07/2011, by Lord Norton

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A pint is forever

Baroness Deech 01/12/2009 – 11:18 pm

Back to work this week on my Select Committee, Merits of Statutory Instruments.   Our job is to scrutinise weekly the delegated legislation made under the authority of an Act (that is, the detailed stuff that makes the Act work) and see if any of the statutory instruments fail to achieve their objectives, or should be drawn to the attention of the House because they have exceptional policy impli […]

Written at 11:18 pm on 01/12/2009, by Baroness Deech


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Scrutiny by committee

Lord Norton 19/01/2009 – 2:41 pm

The House of Lords gets relatively little media attention.  That applies not only to the chamber but also to committees.   The House used to be a chamber-oriented institution, making little use of investigative committees.  That has changed in recent years and the House has become a much more specialised body.  It has created more select committees as well as making more extensive use of Gran […]

Written at 2:41 pm on 19/01/2009, by Lord Norton


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