Examples of select committees - departmental select committees

Role

• Scrutiny of the work, policies and spending of individual govt depts

Composition

• 11 MPs

  • Prop representation of party makeup of HoC

Key cases - 2023 - Home Affairs Select Committee

• Chaired by Dame Diana Johnson

• Focused on delays in asylum processing

  • Criticised govt targets as unrealistic

Key cases - 2022 - Education Select Committee

• Chaired by Robert Halfon

• Reviewed pandemic recovery funding for schools

  • Criticised inequalities in support allocation

Efficacy - expertise of those giving evidence

• Expert-driven and evidence-based analysis

  • Calls civil servants, ministers and external experts for detailed scrutiny

Inefficacy - findings and implementation of recommendations

• Findings and recommendations not binding

  • Govt often ignores reports

Inefficacy - resources

• Limited resources compared to depts they actually scrutinise