AQA A LEVEL POLITICS GRADE A [20/25] ESSAY:
"Despite their weaknesses select committees play an increasingly important role in scrutinising the government.” Analyse and evaluate this statement. [25 marks]
"Despite their weaknesses select committees play an increasingly important role in
scrutinising the government.” Analyse and evaluate this statement. [20/25 - A]
The House of Commons first introduced select committees in 1979 to examine the
“expenditure, administration and policy” of assigned departments in government in turn
scrutinising their work. While Committees have successfully scrutinised government in
recent years, the extent of their scrutiny has been limited due to the influence of whips and
their lack of ability to compel government to follow recommendations, which have made it
more difficult for select committees to maintain an independent role in scrutinising
government.
One way in which select committees have strengthened their scrutiny of government is
through their power to “send for persons, papers and records,” allowing them to conduct
inquiries more smoothly. This can be seen when Philip Hammons, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, sat before the Treasury Select Committee who questioned
him on the UK financial agreement with the EU as part of its Brexit deal. This shows how
Select Committees can have access to government ministers and thus a direct insight into
government affairs. This is significant as it provides a more informed approach to scrutiny,
adding legitimacy to the findings of the committees. Moreover, committees maintain the
power to question civil servants such as Charlotte Hogg, former Deputy Governor of Bank of
England resigned in 2017 - 2 weeks after the Treasury select committee criticised the
incomplete answers she gave them. This shows how significant committees are in
encouraging a policy of transparency by questioning civil servants and ministers on their
actions. However, in order to conduct efficient and thorough enquiries, committees require
time as without the availability of MPs, the quality of select committees’ scrutiny of
government is likely to suffer. Moreover, a key problem is that ministers may refuse to
answer, since they maintain the right to keep silent. The Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy
Heywood chose to not answer questions over the EU referendum, further undermining the
power of select committees to access the workings of the governments, in turn severely
limiting their role in scrutinising the executive.
This is significant as it allows the committee to play a key role in giving recommendations,
which a study by the Constitution Unit found the government to accept around 40% and a
further third of significant reforms. This can be seen more clearly in 2018 when the Housing,
Communities and Local Government Select Committee report encouraged the government’s
“Build to Rent” programme, thus increasing the number of houses available to rent. This is
significant as it shows that select committee reports carry considerable weight and act as a
practical guide for positive change. However, while reports encourage governments to
rethink policies, committees still do not have power to propose policy as a majority of their
recommendations (60%) are not accepted. This can be seen in the Intelligence and Security
Committee report on “Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism” on 13 July 2022 which failed to receive
a substantive response from the government thus undermining its ability to bring up
precedent news and events to scrutinise the government on its response to current problems
in the UK.
Another way in which select committees have increasingly played a central role in scrutiny of
the executive is through hearings. In particular, pre-appointment hearings have allowed
select committees to scrutinise government nominees for key public offices. Yet, in 2016
Amanda Spielmann became head of Ofsted despite the Education Select Committee
expressing concerns about her expertise. On the other hand the Treasury committee
approved Ashley Alder in 2022 as the new chair of the Financial Conduct Authority due to
his extensive experience, thus showing the role of select committees in prompting higher
standards in government through conducting effective scrutiny. In addition to
pre-appointment hearings there are also annual hearings conducted by the Liaison
Committee to question the prime minister and hold him to account. The Liaison committee is
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