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Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom

(Redirected from Committees of the British House of Commons)

The parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom are committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Each consists of a small number of Members of Parliament from the House of Commons, or peers from the House of Lords, or a mix of both, appointed to deal with particular areas or issues; most are made up of members of the Commons. The majority of parliamentary committees are select committees. The remit of these committees vary depending on whether they are committees of the House of Commons or the House of Lords.

Committee meetings take place in committee rooms at the Palace of Westminster (right) and Portcullis House (left)

House of Commons

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Select committees

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A committee of the House of Commons meets in Portcullis House c. 2010
Main article: Select committee (United Kingdom)

Select committees in the Commons are designed to oversee the work of departments and agencies, examine topical issues affecting the country or individual regions or nations, and review and advise on the procedures, workings and rules of the House.

  • Departmental select committees are designed to oversee and examine the work of individual government departments and any related departmental bodies and agencies.
  • Topical select committees examine topical issues of importance.
  • Internal select committees have responsibility with respect to the day-to-day running of Parliament.[1]

General committees

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Other committees

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House of Lords

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Lords select committee c. 2013

The House of Lords appoint Sessional select committees to examine and explore general issues such as the constitution or the economy; the European Union Committee scrutinises EU action via its sub-committees; each session Special Inquiry committees are appointed to examine specific issues.

Topical

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Special Inquiry (2019–21 Session)

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  • Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 Select Committee
  • Food, Poverty, Health & the Environment Select Committee
  • Social and Economic Impact of Gambling Select Committee
  • Democracy & Digital Technologies Select Committee

Legislative

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Internal

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Domestic

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Joint house committees

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Main article: Joint Committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Joint Committees are committees formed to examine a particular issue, whose membership is from both the Commons and the Lords.

Former committees

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Occasionally, committees will be discharged. This occurs when existing committees are no longer required or have their responsibilities transferred to a different committee, effectively rendering the original committee void. It is more common, however, for committees to be discharged as a result of the abolition of government departments, for example the abolition of the Department of Education and Skills in June 2007 resulted in the abolition of the Education and Skills Select Committee shortly afterwards.[2]

Commons

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Departmental

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Domestic

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All five domestic committees were abolished in 2005 and replaced by a single committee – the Administration Committee.

Internal

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Legislative

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Regional Grand Committees

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Eight regional grand committees were established by temporary standing orders which were in force between January 2009 and May 2010. Each committee related with one of the eight regions of England outside Greater London, and all MPs from constituencies in each region were able to attend and participate in the proceedings of the relevant regional grand committee. It was envisioned that the committees would meet twice a year, however in reality they only ever met once in Autumn 2009 before being abolished the following year.[5][6][7]

Regional Select Committees

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The House of Commons set up eight regional select committees in November 2008, whose members were first appointed on 3 March 2009. The committees were formed of five Labour members, as opposed to the nine members from various parties as was agreed in the original motion, due to the refusal of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to nominate any members as a sign of their opposition to setting up the committees.[8] The resolution that formed the committees expired at the end of the 2005/10 Parliament. The succeeding coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats chose not to renew it.[9]

Lords

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Topical

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  • European Union Committee
    • Environment Sub-Committee
    • Goods Sub-Committee
    • Security & Justice Sub-Committee
    • Services Sub-Committee

Internal

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Domestic

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Joint

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References

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  1. ^ "Select Committee chair election results". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 25 July 2007 (pt 0018)". publications.parliament.uk.
  3. ^ "Political and Constitutional Reform Committee". UK Parliament.
  4. ^ "Public Administration Select Committee (PASC)". UK Parliament.
  5. ^ https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmgeneral/cmregion.htm
  6. ^ https://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/documents/s22495/final%20report%20regional%20governance%20arrangements.pdf
  7. ^ https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/section/6104/regional-affairs-committee
  8. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 03 Mar 2009 (pt 0013)". publications.parliament.uk.
  9. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 May 2010 (pt 0001)". publications.parliament.uk.
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