Establishing select committees in a new Parliament inquiry launched
24 May 2018
The Parliament opened in June 2017 was the third in which select committees were set up according to the procedures recommended in the Wright Committee's reports of late 2009 and early 2010.
These procedures included the election of chairs of the majority of select committees by secret ballot, and the election of MPs to seats on select committees by secret ballot within parliamentary parties
In 2017, for the first time since the introduction of the new procedures, the membership of select committees was not proposed to the House until the September sitting. Some committees had to wait until mid-October to be established. The Liaison Committee was not established until 6 November and did not choose its chair and begin to exercise its functions under various standing orders until 13 November.
There was substantial disquiet inside and outside the House over the perceived delay in establishing departmental and other select committees and the apparent lack of committee scrutiny of the Government's actions between June and September 2017.
Get involved
If you wish to submit evidence to this inquiry, the terms of reference can be found on the inquiry page.
Further information
Image: iStockphoto