The Committee consists of 17 Members. It has a quorum of five. Unless the House otherwise orders, all members nominated to the Committee continue to be members of it for the remainder of the Parliament.

  The Committee has power:

  (a)  to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, to adjourn from place to place, and to report from time to time;

  (b)  to appoint specialist advisers either to supply information which is not readily available or to elucidate matters of complexity within the Committee's order of reference;

  (c)  to communicate to any other committee appointed under the same Standing Order (or to the Committee of Public Accounts, the Deregulation Committee or the Environmental Audit Committee) its evidence and any other documents relating to matters of common interest;

  (d)  to meet concurrently with any other such committee for the purposes of deliberating, taking evidence, or considering draft reports.

 The Committee has power to appoint two sub-committees and to report from time to time the minutes of evidence taken before them and their minutes of proceedings. The sub-committees have power to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, to adjourn from place to place, and to meet concurrently with any committee appointed under the same Standing Order or any sub-committee thereof for the purposes of deliberating or taking evidence.

  The membership of the Committee since its nomination on 14 July 1997 has been: