Legislature examples

Example of select committees effectively holding govt to account. 1

Privileges select committee - They led inquiries into the Partgate, Cash for Questions and the MPs expenses scandal
→ holding Executive and MPs to account

Example of select committees effectively holding govt to account. 2

Home Affairs select committee - The Home Office was investigated regarding the Windrush scandal and it was found that they had been illegally deporting members of the Windrush generation. Amber Rudd resigned as a result in 2017.
→ was effectively held to account

Example of select committees not being as effective at holding govt to account. 1

The then Home Secretary, Theresa May, blocked the home affairs committee from interviewing the head of M15 during an inquiry.
→ Shows the limited power of select committees directly against the Executive.

Example of select committees not being as effective at holding govt to account. 2

Only approximately 40% of advice given by select committees is actually taken into account and acted on by govt. (their advice are not legally binding and they can only advise, not enforce)
→ influence of select committees is questioned

Example of select committees not being as effective at holding govt to account. 2

Cant enforce ‘trial by committee’ → they dont have any power to force anyone to be present or answer questions.

Examples of the House of Lords not being effective at scrutinising parliament. 1

Their levels of expertise and knowledge is questionable → hereditary peers and peers who received their honours through PM patronage (Cash for Honours Scandal)
→ argument that they have nothing to offer to the parliamentary process and are unable to effectively scrutinise government actions and policy.

Examples of the House of Lords not being effective at scrutinising parliament. 2

The power of the House of Lords is limited as a result of the Parliament Act (Government can use the Parliament Act to pass legislation without the approval of the House of Lords - but only if certain specific conditions are met)
These conditions are:
- if the House of Lords has rejected the bill twice
- its been at least 1 year between the second reading and the third reading of the bill
- if the Lords have not received it in time (e.g. during summer recess)

Parliament Act examples: (it has only been invoked 7 times)

• Hunting Act 2004 → prohibits use of dogs in hunting of foxes and other wild mammals
  - this was unpopular with the Lords so the Act was invoked as the three conditions were met.

However, the Parliament Act has its limitations as these conditions are not always met, e.g.

• Rwanda bill suffered 5 defeats at the House of Lords in 2024 but the government could not push the bill through as not enough time had elapsed
  

Example of select committees not being as effective at holding govt to account. 3

The Liaison Committee is made up of Select Committee Chairs and meets with the PM 3 times a year to hold the govt publicly to account.
The PM is likely to be treated more leniently by committee chairs from his or her own party.
→ In 2020, the Johnson government imposed Bernard Jenkin on the chairmanship of the liaison committee even though he was not a current chair of any other committee.
→ Executive is able to control select committee appointments to an extent and can try to minimise the amount of scrutiny by appointing someone from their own party.

Example of select committees effectively holding govt to account. 3

Sir Bernard Jenkin, a Conservative MP was the chair of the Public Administration and constitutional affairs committee (PACAC) and he effectively scrutinised the Conservative Home Office during the Windrush Scandal.

Example of house of lords effectively scrutinising the Executive/ parliament. 1

During Tony Blairs time as PM (1997-2007), for his first 7 years, he passed legislation through the Commons with ease due to his parliamentary majority of 178, and it was only until after the 2005 election that he actually suffered any opposition from the House of Commons (he has only ever had 5 defeats in the commons).

However, his legislation was voted against or amended by the House of Lords 432 times during his premiership.
→ so the House of Lords can be effective in the case of an elective dictatorship where the Executive is experiencing little scrutiny from the House of Commons.

Example of PMQs being ineffective.1

‘Questions’ are often asked that do little to scrutinise and either are irrelevant or purely for performative purposes.
e.g. Johnson was asked to celebrate Wrexham’s promotion to the football league during PMQs in May 2023.
→ this is clearly not a very good form of scrutiny.

Responses to questions often are completely irrelevant and dodge the question entirely - and include a dig at the previous government.
Things are said for laughs and political point scoring and turn PMQs into a ‘punch and judy politics’ scenario.

Examples of PMQs being more performative and lacking scrutiny:

- 09/10/24 PMQs → Sunak responds to Starmer saying “I dont even think Lord Ally is buying any of that nonsense.”

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Example of PMQs being effective. 1

The PM is put on the spot on live TV and is asked questions on current key issues that week - is a form of direct scrutiny which other executives across the world do not get.
→ keeps the PM on their toes as they must ensure that they are governing effectively to avoid this weekly scrutiny.
e.g. In a BBC documentary in 2015, Cameron talks about “the fear and trepidation of PMQs”. → Cameron is intimidated by PMQs and this would have hopefully showed in his governance as he would have wanted to avoid the scrutiny.

Examples of times the PM has been scrutinised effectively in PMQs: