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40-522: The Committee of Public Accounts is a select committee of the British House of Commons . It is responsible for overseeing government expenditures, and to ensure they are effective and honest. The committee is seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability in government financial operations, having been described by Professor the Lord Hennessy as "the queen of

80-660: A central role in a more robust accountability framework within the NHS, to prevent those events recurring. Scrutiny is not well resourced in a number of councils. It relies on the council's Cabinet for its budget (there is no independent funding mechanism). The presence of the Democratic Services Committee, and the Head of Democratic Services as a statutory role, in Welsh authorities, affords some protection, as does

120-726: A formal committee on the basis of that committee's work programme, gathering evidence from a range of internal and external witnesses (including the public) before reporting back to the commissioning committee, and ultimately the council's Cabinet, with formal recommendations. The Cabinet is under a duty to respond to recommendations made by scrutiny committees. A number of external partners must "have regard to" such recommendations. Task and finish groups can take place over many months, or they can be much shorter. Some councils choose to conduct significant amounts of policy development work 'in committee', and/or at one-off meetings. Scrutiny work which aims to develop and review policy tends to constitute

160-564: A governance model which incorporates overview and scrutiny. Councils in Scotland conduct internal scrutiny of their own activities through an audit or scrutiny committee, whose role is to examine the performance and management of risk within the council. Scottish rules allow that in some cases these committees are led by someone who is not a councillor, or by member of the opposition. Some themes are common to all jurisdictions where overview and scrutiny systems operate. Research on scrutiny at

200-648: A member of the governing party leads the Treasury Select Committee . Committee membership reflects each party’s size in the House, and members are elected within their parties. Typically, a departmental committee has 11 members, though some, like Public Accounts , are larger. The Osmotherly Rules set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to parliamentary select committees. Following general elections, chairs and members of select committees have to be reappointed. Committees don't have

240-592: A national level (principally in the UK Parliament ) has highlighted 'parity of esteem' as an important component for scrutiny to be effective. This is replicated at a local level. Different councils can rely on a very different quality and level of support from their respective leaderships; the fact that scrutiny is dependent for resourcing on decision's made by the authority's administration leaves it particularly exposed where this positive culture of scrutiny does not exist. An effective culture of support for scrutiny

280-456: A role in in-year performance and finance monitoring, which it undertakes alongside the audit function of the authority. Overview and Scrutiny Committees in many councils undertake in-depth reviews of particular issues of relevance to local people. This work is carried out in order to influence the council's Cabinet, and other local partners. Work like this is usually carried out in informal "task and finish" groups. These look at topics defined by

320-473: A select committee system, as part of their Overview and Scrutiny arrangements. Committees often open investigations, called inquiries, into topics within their remit. As part of these inquiries they gather information from government officials and interested people, groups, and organisations. At the end of inquiries they often publish a report with their findings. The government must issue a written response to each select committee report. Select committees in

360-524: Is a necessary prerequisite for overall effectiveness. Many councils have a procedure for inspection of proposals by members on Overview and Scrutiny committees before the Executive brings final proposals to council, a process known as "pre-decision scrutiny". This may happen a few weeks before a decision comes to be decided by Cabinet, or months earlier where an issue is being considered more fundamentally and options are being developed. Scrutiny often has

400-699: Is composed of councillors who are not on the Executive Committee, or Cabinet, of that council. Overview and Scrutiny Committees are required to meet the rules on proportionality defined in the Local Government And Housing Act 1989 (i.e. the committee must reflect the respective sizes of the political groups on the council). Councils in England which use the committee system are not required to establish an overview and scrutiny committee, but may do so if they wish. There

440-580: Is featured in season 3, episode 5 of Industry (TV series) . In the episode, Robert is sent to represent Pierpoint as part of the committee's inquiry into the collapse and bailout of Lumi, a green energy tech company. A 2015 select committee inquiry into the Horizon computer system features in Mr Bates vs The Post Office . Overview and Scrutiny Councils operating executive arrangements are required to create an Overview and Scrutiny Committee which

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480-426: Is no national standard or prescription on the committee structure that councils adopt to satisfy these legislative requirements. A wide variety of designations and structures are in use, ranging from single committees to multiple committees with sub-committees. Structures have no significant impact on the overall effectiveness of the scrutiny function in individual authorities. The law relating to overview and scrutiny

520-409: Is placed on public deposit) when a call-in can be requested. Again, this varies from authority to authority. Combined authorities must have overview and scrutiny committees as part of the governance scheme agreed by Government and confirmed by way of each authority's bespoke Order. The powers of combined authority overview and scrutiny committees are broadly analogous to those of local authorities but

560-425: Is slightly different in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland , councils all operate under the committee system, and they conduct internal scrutiny of their own activities through an audit or scrutiny committee, whose role is to examine the performance and management of risk within the council. Scottish rules allow that in some cases these committees are led by someone who is not a councillor, or by member of

600-602: The House of Commons are governed by the Standing Orders. The powers of departmental select committees are set out in standing order 152. Political parties divide committee chair positions based on their number of seats in the House of Commons. Party managers negotiate which party chairs each committee. By tradition, the Public Accounts Committee is led by a member of the opposition party, while

640-551: The Wright Committee was formed to improve the procedures and relevance of Parliament. Changes made based on the committee's recommendations included limiting the number of members per committee to 11, requiring those members and chairs to be appointed to their positions by the House, and a reduction in the number of committees. The Backbench Business Committee was created in 2010 as a non-ministerial committee to cover non-government business, following recommendations from

680-602: The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny. The Local Government (Wales) Measure sets out governance requirements for Welsh authorities. Welsh councils must operate executive arrangements and therefore must have overview and scrutiny committees. The powers of those committees are similar to those in England, although there are some differences, particularly in respect of powers over partners (termed as "designated persons"). The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 means that public bodies are having to think differently about

720-549: The Communities and Local Government Select Committee reported that there was room for improvement in "too many" local authorities. The Francis inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal revealed that concerns expressed to the local scrutiny committee with responsibility for health issues had not been taken up and investigated. The inquiry report suggested that scrutiny needed to be properly supported to carry out

760-479: The Reform the House of Commons report under the Wright Committee . Since June 2010, most committee chairs are elected by the whole House. Before this, each party appointed members and chose chairs within the group. Select committees recommendations often focus on changes to government policy. One study estimates that 30-40% of select committee recommendations become policy. A select committee evidence session

800-576: The bulk of work considered most effective. Common to both the English and Welsh jurisdictions, particularly since 2010, has been the acceleration in the development of formal and informal partnership working at local level. This has led to a more outward-looking approach to scrutiny work, with councillors looking at issues as they affect local people rather than carrying out oversight of the council as an institution. The potential expansion of scrutiny's role has led to some challenges in prioritisation, and

840-515: The commencement of every Session, and of whom five shall be a quorum. The form has since been replicated in virtually all Commonwealth of Nations and many non-Commonwealth countries. A minister from His Majesty's Treasury sits on the committee but, by convention, does not attend hearings. The Chair of the committee is always drawn from the main opposition party and is usually a former senior Minister. The Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 appointed The Committee of Public Accounts to oversee

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880-560: The committees deemed appropriate. It also suggested that committee members should be selected independently of the party whips, as chosen by the Select Committee of Selection . The fourteen new committees began working in 1980 after the 1979 general election . Since then, Parliament has organised House of Commons committees into three main types: In July 2005, the Administration Select Committee

920-449: The legal power to compel people to appear before them. Rupert Murdoch and Mike Ashley are two examples of witnesses who initially declined before agreeing to appear. Mark Zuckerberg , for example, declined to appear in front of a committee at all. Following the dissolution of parliament that preceded the 2024 election, all select committees were disbanded. The House of Commons allocated which parties would hold each Chair in advance of

960-418: The long-term sustainability of the design and delivery of services: this in turn has implications for the planning and prioritisation of scrutiny work. A Future Generations Framework for Scrutiny has been produced to support this. The Wales Audit Office has carried out sustained work to support the improvement of scrutiny in Welsh local authorities. Audit work in the 22 Welsh local authorities in 2017/18 led to

1000-556: The management of resources, to ensure that the function is investigating the right issues at the right time, and in the right way. As councils have changed their operating models, scrutiny has also had to change its way of working - this might involve greater use of commissioning, or conversely more effective commercialisation of council operated services. There have been numerous criticisms of overview and scrutiny since its inception. Former Secretary of State John Denham described it in 2009 as "the lion that has failed to roar". In 2017,

1040-730: The opposition. Scrutiny may, under the Local Government Act 2000 (as amended in 2011), investigate any issue which "affects the area or the area's inhabitants". In England, overview and scrutiny committees may: Scrutiny committees also have powers in relation to certain other partner organisations - in particular local NHS bodies and community safety partnerships. Such bodies are under various obligations to respond or have regard to these recommendations. Scrutiny holds general powers of oversight on flood risk management although detailed regulations relating to such matters have now expired. By law, Overview and Scrutiny must have

1080-498: The presence of the statutory scrutiny officer in upper tier and unitary English authorities. Scrutiny committees are assisted by council employees (officers), often called "scrutiny officers". These officers are generally tasked with providing policy and research support to councillors. Sometimes they are also responsible for organising and administering meetings. The average number of scrutiny officers per council has been steadily declining since 2010 although this does not correlate with

1120-405: The production in 2019 of a checklist to guide improvement. The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 2014 allowed new councils to choose between a number of governance options, one of which involves an executive/scrutiny split. Powers for these committees broadly reflect the powers of overview and scrutiny committees in England and Wales. As of 2020 no Northern Ireland council has chosen to adopt

1160-492: The production of refreshed guidance to local authorities and combined authorities on overview and scrutiny, which was published in May 2019. This guidance focused on the importance of culture, and the attitude and mindset of those in executive and other leadership positions, in ensuring scrutiny's overall effectiveness. The importance of organisational and political culture to effective overview and scrutiny has also been highlighted by

1200-415: The right to ' call-in ' decisions – i.e. ask the decision-maker to think again, or to refer the decision to the full council if it is believed that the decision-maker has taken a decision in contravention of the council's budget or policy framework. To be called in, decisions usually need to be "key decisions". There is usually a window of five working days between the notification of the decision (when it

1240-465: The select committees...[which] by its very existence exert[s] a cleansing effect in all government departments". The recommendation for the creation of a committee to oversee government accounts was first put forward in 1857 by a small group of interested Members of Parliament led by Sir Francis Baring . The structure and function of the PAC date back to reforms initiated by William Ewart Gladstone , when he

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1280-474: The strategic nature of business in combined authorities means that, in order to be effective, scrutiny needs to look quite different. Some combined authority scrutiny committees have struggled with quoracy (having enough members present for the meeting to formally transact business). In 2017 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee conducted on inquiry into local government scrutiny. In response to this inquiry Government committed to

1320-585: The summer recess on 30 July 2024. Nominations for Chairs ran until 9 September. Ballots took place on 11 September. House of Lords select committees include: These committees run inquiries into and publish reports on topics within their remit. Specialised committees of investigation existed within Parliament since the Tudor period . In the sixteenth century, committees revised bills and considered constitutional and religious questions. The committees system

1360-490: The work of government departments and agencies, whereas Lords select committees look at general issues, such as the constitution or the economy. Select committees are also one of parliament's mechanisms for holding the private sector to account. Following the 2024 United Kingdom general election , most of the new chairs of the 26 select committees were elected in September 2024. Some English local authorities also have

1400-682: The work of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) The Committee continues to be assisted by the C&;AG who is a permanent witness at its hearings, along with his staff of the National Audit Office , who provide briefings on each report and assist in the preparation of the Committee's own reports. Membership of the committee is as follows: The Committee's members from December 2023 to July 2024 are as follows: The chair

1440-588: The work of the Government of the United Kingdom . They can be appointed from the House of Commons , from the House of Lords , or as a joint committee of Parliament drawn from both. Committees may be as "sessional" committees – i.e. be near-permanent – or as "ad-hoc" committees with a specific deadline by which to complete their work, after which they cease to exist. House of Commons select committees are generally responsible for overseeing

1480-611: Was British Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1860s. The first Public Accounts Committee was established in 1862 by a resolution of the British House of Commons : There shall be a standing committee designated "The Committee of Public Accounts"; for the examination of the Accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament to meet the Public Expenditure, to consist of nine members, who shall be nominated at

1520-436: Was created to replace five previous committees. It covers services in the House, including catering, the House of Commons Library , digital services, and visitor services. Sometimes, committees from the House of Commons or joint standing committees (which include members of both Houses) review individual bills in detail. Most bills go to public bill committees . Before 2006, these were called standing committees. In 2009,

1560-555: Was elected on 12 July 2017, with members being announced on 11 September 2017. The chair was elected on 18 June 2015, with members being announced on 7 July 2015. The chair was elected on 10 June 2010, with members being announced on 12 July 2010. House of Commons standing orders give the party of the official Opposition the right to chair the committee. Select committee (United Kingdom) In British politics , parliamentary select committees are cross-party groups of MPs or Lords which investigate specific issues or scrutinise

1600-501: Was further developed during the mid-1960s by Richard Crossman as Leader of the House of Commons . The modern system of departmental select committees in the UK came into being in 1979, following the recommendations of a 1978 Procedure Select Committee report. It recommended the appointment of a series of select committees covering all the main departments of state, with wide terms of reference, and with power to appoint specialist advisers as

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