In the UK, Select Committees play a vital role in holding the government to account. Over the years, there have been numerous examples of committee inquiries in which the public has been able to watch politicians squirm in the face of some pretty intense lines of questioning. However, in many ways, they lack the proper power to enforce their findings, so maybe politicians aren't so scared of them after all - but should they be?
Select Committees Definition
The contemporary model of Parliamentary Select Committees was established in the UK in 1979, following a report published by the Procedure Select Committee the year before.
Existing in both Houses of Parliament - the Commons and the Lords - Select Committees are cross-party groups that compile investigative reports, conduct inquiries, and hold the government to account. Select Committees can make policy recommendations at the end of their investigative process, however, the government is not obliged to adopt these recommendations.
Select Committees can be established by standing orders, which makes them permanent, or they can be established for a single session or report, after which they are dissolved. Not only do Select Committees work on a cross-party basis, but they also work across the two Houses in the form of 'Joint Committees'.
House of Commons Select Committees
In the House of Commons, there are four types of Select Committee: Departmental, Cross-Cutting, Domestic, and Legislative. Select Committees contain at least 12 MPs, and the number of MPs from each party on each Committee reflects the composition of MPs in Parliament itself.
House of Lords Select Committees
The four types of committees within the House of Lords are Investigative Committees, Ad-Hoc Committees, Legislative Committees, and Domestic Committees.
Joint Select Committees
Joint Select Committees include MPs from both the House of Commons and the Lords. They mainly focus on policy issues such as international law and human rights.
A Commons Select Committee in session at Portcullis House, WikiMediaCommons
List of Select Committees
As mentioned above, select committees are formed for several different purposes, and these are categorised as follows:
| House of Commons Select Committees | Explanation and Examples |
| Departmental | These Committees scrutinise the expenditure, legislation, and policies of each governmental Departmental. They make up almost half of the Select Committees in the common, including- Education
- Foreign Defence
- Justice
|
| Cross-Cutting | These Committees look across all government departments to evaluate the government's performance on a singular thematic issue, they include - Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
- European Scrutiny
- Arms Exports Controls
|
| Domestic | These Committees facilitate some aspects of Parliamentary administration and ensure Parliamentary rules are properly implemented. Some examples are- Backbench Business
- Standards
- Finance
|
| Legislative | These Committees undertake analysis of the legislative process conducted by governments, examples include |
| House of Lords Select Committees | Explanation and Examples |
| Investigative (or Sessional) | Consider thematic issues addressed in government policies, examples include- Communications and Digital
- Science and Technology
- Economic Affairs
|
| Ad-Hoc | Sometimes formed as sub-committees out of analysis conducted by the Investigative Select Committees, Ad-Hoc Committees are temporary and used to investigate a single issue, including- Democracy and Digital Technology
- Gambling Industry
|
| Legislative | Undertake investigations of the legislative process, including |
| Domestic | Conduct the administration of the House, including |
Joint Select Committees
Joint Committees address serious legislative issues through bodies such as the Intelligence and Security Committee and the National Security Strategy Committee, as well as administrative matters such as the Consolidation Bills Committee.
Select Committees UK
Parliamentary Select Committees offer a cross-party coalition of backbench MPs the opportunity to scrutinise government. The UK electoral system uses the pluralistic, first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system, a model which tends to result in a one-party government, in which a Government is formed by the party that commands a majority in Parliament. Coalition governments are relatively rare and therefore, Select Committees are all the more important in holding one-party governments to account.
Backbench MPs are elected members of the House of Commons who aren't members of the Ministers or Junior Ministers within the government's Cabinet, or the Shadow Cabinet
The heads of each Select Committee, known as Chairs, are assigned from each party proportionately. Once it is known how many MPs each party will have sitting in Parliament, a formula calculates how many Chair positions will be available to each party. For example, following the 2019 General Election, the Conservatives were allocated 16 Chair positions. The second largest party, the Labour Party, were allocated 6. Once the number of Chairs has been allocated to each party, the party whips negotiate which parties will occupy the Chair on each Select Committee. Following this negotiation, backbench MPs can nominate themselves. To be successful, a candidate must receive the backing of 15 MPs within their party. Once there is at least one candidate for every Chair, an election is carried out amongst all MPs using the Alternative Vote system.
Party whips: members of the House of Commons or Lords who are selected by their party to oversee the party's parliamentary business, such as ensuring MPs vote on important policy issues.
After a Chair has been appointed to each Select Committee, the election of the backbench MPs who will sit on them begins. Again, the make-up of each Committee is generally proportionate to the make-up of Parliament. The party in government can generally expect to be the most well represented. Once each backbench MP has stood for a place on a Select Committee, votes are conducted internally within each party.
Alternative Vote System (AVS)
AVS is a majoritarian electoral system in which candidates are in order of preference. If there were 5 candidates, for example, voters rank them from 1 to 5. If a candidate receives an overall majority after the first vote, then they are elected. If, however, there is no majority, then the candidate with the fewest first rank votes is eliminated and their first rank votes are transferred to the second choice candidate on the voter's ballot paper. In 2011, there was an unsuccessful referendum in the UK which suggested using AVS for general elections.
Select Committee Functions
Select Committees' cross-party and proportionately representative make-up mean they carry out several functions, which are essential to democracy.
Scrutinising Government
Perhaps the most important function carried out by Select Committees is their work to scrutinise the legislation and activities of government. The most illustrative example of a Select Committee which holds the government to account is the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). A cross-cutting Committee, the PAC holds government expenditure to account, by conducting audits on all major programmes. Beyond these audits, the PAC holds inquiries in which its members scrutinise Departmental Ministers.
What makes PAC unique is that its Chair must be a member of the Parliamentary opposition. From 2010 - 2015, Labour MP Margaret Hodge used her platform as Chair of the PAC to adopt a combative approach against the government's economic policies. Hodge famously branded executives from Google as "evil" during an inquiry in 2013. Today, the PAC produces reports on major economic projects, such as the construction of HS2.
Former Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, addressing the government regarding the future of the Committee during her time in the position, 2011, WikiMediaCommons
Select Committee Functions: Adding Expertise
Parliamentary Select Committees add experience to the policy process, by gaining insights from external professionals. Select Committees also produce public invitations before their inquiries, which they send to relevant think tanks, lobby groups, academics, or individuals who may have a stake or interest in their investigation.
In the Lords, Select Committees utilise the experience of the Lords, many of whom are appointed because of their achievements in fields such as business and education. In the Lords, the most common Select Committees are the permanent Investigative Committees, which investigate thematic issues such as the Economic Affairs of the country.
Select Committee Functions: Representation
Another function of Parliamentary Select Committees is to promote representation within the pluralistic system of Westminster. Certain parties within Westminster, like the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), represent the interests of the nations within the UK to which power is devolved from Westminster. Therefore, these parties are given special access to Select Committees which make policy recommendations for their nations. The SNP, for example, secured the chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee following the 2019 general election.
Pros and Cons of Select Committees
Through their election processes and functions, Select Committees conduct processes which a fundamental to British democracy. There is no such thing as a perfect democracy, however, and Select Committees can also represent some major shortfalls in the British political system.
Bolstering democracy
Select Committees can be seen as providing a remedy to the pluralistic, one-party system of UK politics. Through the proportional system of representation which is used to allocate membership and Chair positions, Select Committees bring smaller parties into the legislative process. Furthermore, by only allowing backbench MPs to participate, they involve representatives from outside the government or shadow cabinet.
Despite the introduction of a Commons-wide AV election for Committee Chairs in 2010, many Committee Chairs still run unopposed. In the 2020 elections, 13 Chairs ran for election unopposed. This suggests that Select Committees are still subject to the same internal party politics as other processes.
Holding Governments to account
Select Committees allow Backbench MPs to scrutinise the government and exercise influence. As well as being able to liaise with experts in different fields, Select Committees can request to view restricted documents which are produced during the legislative process. Lastly, with their ability to request appearances from Cabinet Ministers and senior political figures, Select Committee inquiries can have a damaging impact on a politician's public image. This was illustrated in 2022 when Boris Johnson was questioned about his intention to resign during an appearance at the Liaison Committee.
Ultimately, Select Committees' authority is limited by a lack of enforcement power. They have the authority to scrutinise government departments, policy, and legislation, but no corresponding power with which to make changes. Furthermore, although they can technically issue a formal summons for Ministers to appear before them, these are not binding and therefore they are reliant on the goodwill of MPs. In many ways, the lack of real authority to enforce recommendations leaves Select Committees with the image of being fairly 'toothless'.
A House of Lords Select Committee in session, circa 2013, WikiMediaCommons
Select Committees - Key takeaways
- The model for modern Parliamentary Select Committees was established in 1979.
- Existing in both Houses of Parliament - the Commons and the Lords - Select Committees are cross-party groups of MPs and Lords who compile investigative reports, conduct inquiries and hold the Government to account.
- In the Commons, there are 4 types of Committees: Departmental (e.g. Education), Cross-Cutting (e.g. PAC), Domestic (e.g. Finance), and Legislative (e.g. Statutory Instruments).
- In the Lords, there are 4 types of Committee: Investigative Committees (e.g. Economic Affairs), Ad-Hoc Committees (e.g. Gambling Industry), Legislative Committees (e.g. Hybrid Instruments), and Domestic Committees (e.g. Finance).
- Joint Committees involve MPs and Lords (e.g. Intelligence and Security).
- Both the allocation of Chairs for each party and membership within Select Committees are assigned to be proportional to the make-up of Parliament
- Elections for Chairs take place across Parliament using the AV system, whereas the election for membership within each Committee takes place privately in parties
- Only Backbench MPs can sit on Select Committees.
- Select Committees' key functions include scrutinising government, adding expertise and increasing Parliamentary representation.
- Positives of Select Committees include the fact that they remedy the lack of pluralism under the FPTP electoral system and provide backbench MPs with a public setting in which to scrutinise government.
- Many appointments to Chair positions are subject to internal party politics, reflecting the positions and interests of the ruling party. This weakens the likelihood that the Committee Chair will be rigorous in holding the government to account.
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