Select Committees

Select Committees are set up to examine the work of Government Departments, and now constitute the main investigatory system by which the House overseas the exercise of Government responsibilities and the development of public policy and expenditure.

The following information on Select Committees is available on the Parliament website:

Select Committee membership: www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/selmem.cfm

Links to Select Committee home pages containing information on the work of the Select Committee and its publications: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/parliamentary_committees16.cfm

For further information on Select Committees see HCIO Factsheet P2 produced by the House of Commons Information Office, available in hardcopy on request or to download from the Parliament website.

Membership:

Communities and Local Government Committee:

Jim Dobbin and Mr Bill Olner discharged; Mr Neil Turner and David Wright added

International Development Committee:

Jim Sheridan discharged; Mr Virendra Sharma added

East Midlands Regional Committee:

Chairman: Paddy Tipping

North West Regional Committee:

Chairman: Mr David Crausby

South East Regional Committee:

Chairman: Dr Stephen Ladyman

South West Regional Committee:

Chairman: Alison Seabeck

West Midlands Regional Committee:

Chairman: Richard Burden

Select Committee Meetings
9 - 13 March 2009

Monday 9 March

European Scrutiny
Subject: Commission Communication: The Impact of the Free Movement of Workers in the context of EU enlargement.
Witnesses: Rt Hon Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reforms.

Children, Schools and Families
Subject: Early Intervention
Witnesses: Graham Allen MP

Innovation, Universities and Skills Sub Committee
Subject: Students and Universities.
Witnesses: Professor Bob Burgess, Chair, Higher Education Achievement Report Implementation Group and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, Professor Gina Wisker, Heads of Education and Development Group, Professor James Wisdom, Staff and Educational Development Association, and Professor Geoffrey Alderman; Professor Paul Ramsden, Higher Education Authority, Peter Williams, Quality Assurance Agency, and Anthony McClaran, UCAS.

Public Accounts
Subject: HM Revenue & Customs: The Control and Facilitation of Imports.
Witnesses: Leslie Strathie, Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, Melanie Dawes, Acting Director, General Business Tax, and Douglas Tweddle CBE, Director Customs and International, HM Revenue & Customs, and Mr Brodie Clarke, Head of Border Force, UK Border Agency.

Tuesday 10 March

Communities and Local Government
Subject: Traditional Retail Markets.
Witnesses: Committee Visit.

Regulatory Reform
Subject: Themes and Trends in Regulatory Reform.
Witnesses: Sir William Sargent, Executive Chair and Jitinder Kohli, Chief Executive, Better Regulation Executive.

Welsh Affairs
Subject: Digital Inclusion in Wales.
Witnesses: BT Wales; Geo Networks and Virgin Media.

Business and Enterprise
Subject: Digital Britain.
Witnesses: Lord Carter CBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Culture, Media and Sport
Subject: Press standards, privacy and libel.
Witnesses: Max Mosley.

Home Affairs
Subject: Knife Crime.
Witnesses: West Midlands Mediation and Transformation Service, Kids Company and Damilola Taylor Trust; Philip Hearne, former Principal, Paddington Academy; Philip Lawrence Awards.

Joint Committee on Human Rights
Subject: Childrens Rights.
Witnesses: Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Children's Commissioner; Kathleen Marshall, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People; Keith Towler, Children's Commissioner for Wales, and Patricia Lewsley, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People.

Culture, Media and Sport
Subject: Press standards, privacy and libel.
Witnesses: Gerry McCann, Clarence Mitchell, Adam Tudor, Carter Ruck Solicitors.

Justice
Subject: (i)The work of the Crown Prosecution Service; (ii) The work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Witnesses: (i) Rt Hon Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, Attorney General; (ii) Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Speaker's Conference
Subject: Speaker's Conference (on Parliamentary Representation).
Witnesses: UK Youth Parliament and UpRising; Citizenship Foundation and the Association for Citizenship Teaching; Parliamentary Education Service and Department of Information Services, House of Commons.

Wednesday 11 March

Energy and Climate Change
Subject: UK Offshore Oil and Gas.

Witnesses: Steve Jenkins, Chairman Alan Booth, Chief Executive Officer, Encore Oil Martyn Millwood, Chief Executive Officer, Ikon Science, Oil and Gas Independents' Association; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Work and Pensions
Subject: Jobcentre Plus.
Witnesses: Mel Groves, Chief Executive and Ruth Owen, Chief Operating Officer of Jobcentre Plus, Mark Fisher, Welfare to Work Director, Department for Work and Pensions.

Health
Subject: Operating Framework for the NHS in England.

Witnesses: Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State, David Nicholson CBE, NHS Chief Executive, and Hugh Taylor CB, Permanent Secretary, Department of Health.

Business and Enterprise, Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Development (Committees on Arms Export Controls)
Subject: Strategic Export Controls.
Witnesses: Amnesty UK, Oxfam GB and Saferworld; Export Group for Aerospace & Defence.

International Development
Subject: Sustainable Development in a Changing Climate.
Witnesses: Professor Lord Stern of Brentford.

Foreign Affairs
Subject: Developments in the EU.
Witnesses: Rt Hon Baroness Ashton of Upholland, European Trade Commissioner.

Transport
Subject: Effects of adverse weather conditions on transport in the United Kingdom.
Witnesses: Local Government Association, County Surveyors Society and TAG Transportation Committee; Paul Clark MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport, and Highways Agency.

European Scrutiny
Subject: Commission Communication: Impact of the free movement of workers in the context of EU enlargement.
Witnesses: Phil Woolas MP, Minister of State for The Home Office.

Procedure

Subject: Written Parliamentary Questions.

Witnesses: Table Office, House of Commons; Chris Bryant MP, Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.

Public Accounts
Subject: The Warm Front Scheme.
Witnesses: Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Moira Wallace, Permanent Secretary and Simon Virley, Director General (acting), National Climate Change & Consumer Support, Department for Energy and Climate Change, and Paul Varley, Divisional Managing Director, Managed Services, eaga plc.

Thursday 12 March

Public Administration
Subject: (i) Leaks and Whistleblowing in Whitehall (ii) Executive Pay in the Public Sector (iii) Outside Appointments to the Senior Civil Service.
Witnesses: FDA, Prospect, and Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

Friday 13 March

None

Forthcoming Select Committee Meetings

16 - 20 March 2009

Monday 16 March

Northern Ireland Affairs Subject: A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland Witnesses: Thomas Duncan, Commissioner, Ann Hope, Commissioner, Professor Colin Harvey, Commissioner, and Virginia McVea, Head of Legal Services, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; Patrick Corrigan, Sara Boyce and Pam Tilson, Northern Ireland Human Rights Consortium (at 12:30pm)	11:30am	Senate Chamber, Stormont, Belfast
Northern Ireland Affairs Subject: Omagh Support and Self Help Group Witnesses: Omagh Support and Self Help Group	3:15pm	Senate Chamber, Stormont, Belfast
Innovation, Universities and Skills Sub Committee Subject: Putting Science and Engineering at the Heart of Government Policy Witnesses: Nick Dusic, Campaign for Science and Engineering, Professor David Edgerton, Imperial College London, Professor David Charles, Regional Studies Association, and Professor Adrian Smith, Director General for Science and Research, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills; Sir Roland Jackson, British Science Association, Professor Iain Haines, UK Deans of Science, and Tracey Brown, Sense about Science (at 4:30pm)	3:45pm	The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Children, Schools and Families Subject: School Accountability Witnesses: Association of School and College Leaders, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, General Teaching Council for England, National Association of Head Teachers, and National Union of Teachers	3:45pm	The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Public Accounts Subject: Crown Courts Administration/National Audit Office Supply Estimate 2009-10 Witnesses: Christine Mayer CBE, Chief Executive, HM Courts Service, and Peter Handcock CBE, Director General, Access to Justice, Ministry of Justice;Tim Burr CB, Comptroller and Auditor General, Jim Rickleton, Assistant Auditor General, and Phil Woodward, Director of Finance, National Audit Office	4:30pm	Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Communities and Local Government Subject: Appointment of the Chair of the Infrastructure Planning Commission Witnesses: Sir Michael Pitt, Chair-designate of the Infrastructure Planning Commission	4:40pm	The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Tuesday 17 March

Treasury* Subject: Banking Crisis Witnesses: Lord Myners, Financial Services Secretary HM Treasury	9:45am	The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Home Affairs Subject: Managing Migration: Points-Based System Witnesses: Migration Advisory Committee; Phil Woolas MP, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, Matthew Coats, Director, Immigration Group, and Neil Hughes, Director, Points-Based System Programme, Home Office (at 11:00am)	10:15am	The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Welsh Affairs Subject: Digital Inclusion in Wales Witnesses: Vodafone and Apple; BBC, Digital UK and Switchover Help Scheme (at 11:15am)	10:30am	Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Defence Subject: Russia: A new confrontation? Witnesses: Professor Jonathan Stern, Director of Gas Research, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, and John Roberts, Energy Security Specialist, Platts; Professor Martin McCauley, University of London, Dr Roy Allison, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Dr Alex Pravda, University of Oxford (at 11:00am)	10:30am	Committee Room 16, Palace of Westminster
Public Accounts Commission Subject: NAO's Estimate for 2009-10 Witnesses: Tim Burr CB, Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir Andrew Likierman, Chairman, Jim Rickleton, Assistant Auditor General, and Phil Woodward, Finance Director, National Audit Office	11:30am	Committee Room 7, Palace of Westminster
Justice Subject: The role of the Prison Officer Witnesses: Alison Liebling, Professor of Criminology, Cambridge University; Frances Crook, Director, Howard League for Penal Reform, and Juliet Lyon, Director, Prison Reform Trust ( at 5:00pm )	4:15pm	The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Defence Subject: The work of the Service Complaints Commissioner Witnesses: Dr Susan Atkins, Service Complaints Commissioner for the Armed Forces	4:30pm	The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Wednesday 18 March

Work and Pensions Subject: DWP's Autumn Performance Report 2008 Witnesses: Sir Leigh Lewis KCB, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions	9:30am	The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Children, Schools and Families Subject: Child Health Strategy Witnesses: National Children's Bureau and Unite-Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association	9:30am	The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Transport Subject: The use of air space Witnesses: Eurocontrol and European Commission Directorate-General for Energy and Transport; NATS (at 3:30pm)	2:45pm	The Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Subject: Securing food supplies up to 2050: the challenges for the UK Witnesses: Natural England	3:00pm	The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Public Accounts Subject: The health of livestock and honeybees in England Witnesses: Dame Helen Ghosh DCB, Permanent Secretary, Katrina Williams, Director General, Food and Farming, and Stephen Hunter, Deputy Director, Plant and Bee Health, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Catherine Brown, Chief Executive, Animal Health	3:30pm	Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster

Thursday 19 March

Scottish Affairs* Subject: Banking in Scotland Witnesses: Royal Bank of Scotland; Lloyds Banking Group (at 10:15am )	9:15am	Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Public Administration* Subject: Leaks and Whistleblowing in Whitehall Witnesses: Katharine Gun, Dr Brian Jones and Derek Pasquill; Carne Ross (at 11:15am)	10:00am	The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Health Subject: Patient Safety Witnesses: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and National Patient Safety Agency; Professor Lord Darzi of Denham KBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ann Keen MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and Sir Liam Donaldson KB, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health (at 10:45am)	10:00am	The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Energy and Climate Change Subject: UK offshore oil and gas Witnesses: Professor Alexander Kemp, University of Aberdeen; Malcolm Webb, Chief Executive Officer, Paul Dymond, Operations Director, and Mike Tholen, Economics Director, Oil and Gas UK (at 11:00am)	10:10am	Aberdeen City Council, Town Hall, Aberdeen
Treasury* Subject: Banking Crisis Witnesses: Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer	2:00pm	The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Friday 20 March

None

All public Select Committee meetings are webcast.

Select Committees marked with * will be taken by BBC Parliament

Please note: The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be rescinded, and the place altered without notice.

Committees which sit at short notice may not be included in this list.