STANDING COMMITTEES

Standing Committees in the House of Commons have a number of different functions.

1.	Standing Committees lettered A, B, C, etc, are constituted as often as necessary to consider Public Bills in detail. Their membership is announced after a Bill has been allocated to them, and the Committees are constituted afresh for each new Bill. The 1st and 2nd Scottish Standing Committees act similarly for Bills relating solely to Scotland. Special Standing Committees (SSC) or Special Scottish Standing Committees (SSSC) may be established to consider, and take evidence upon, Bills. For further details, see Factsheet 43 available from the Public Information Office.
2.	Reports of debates in Standing Committees are printed in the Official Report of Standing Committee A (B, C etc) for each sitting. These are published by, and available from, and, unless the Committee sits late, are generally available the day after the sitting.
3.	The Scottish Grand, Welsh Grand and Northern Ireland Committees exist largely to debate matters remitted to them by the House. They are constituted afresh for each topic. The Scottish and Welsh Grand Committees also debate the principle of Bills relating to Scotland and Wales if the Bills are referred to them under a motion by a Minister. Except for formal purposes this constitutes the Second Reading stage of such a Bill. The Scottish Grand Committee also (at designated sittings) has a question time, debates on the motion for the adjournment and adjournment debates. For further information see Factsheet 65 available from the Public Information Office.
4.	Delegated Legislation Standing Committees (formerly known as SI Committees) are constituted to deal with particular items of secondary legislation referred to them by the House. Their composition is not noted in this Bulletin. Any Member may attend and speak.
5.	The European Standing Committees (ESC) lettered A and B are constituted for the duration of a Session and consider matters referred to them by the House. Their composition appears in No 2 (p14), amendments No 3 (p12), No 5 (p15). Chairmen are appointed for consideration of individual documents. Any Member may attend and speak. For further details see Factsheet 56 available from the Public Information Office. Committees A and B deal with matters within the responsibilities of different Departments. The list is as follows: ESC A: Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Transport; Environment; Forestry Commission (and analogous responsibilities of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Offices): ESC B: Other Departments

Current Standing Committees, Details of Membership

Bill	Committee	Bulletin issue and page
		(amendments/additions)
National Heritage [HL]	A	*
Finance	B	*
Knives	C	this issue
Prisons (Alcohol Testing)	C	this issue**
Horserace Totalisator [HL]	C	this issue**
Education	D	No 4 (p14)
Social Security Administration (Fraud)	E	No 6 (p15)
Scottish Legal Services	1st Scot SC	*

Ombudsman and Commissioner for Local Administration in Scotland

*	Membership, dates of sitting not yet announced
**	Chairmen, dates of sitting not yet announced
***	Chairmen, membership, dates of sitting not yet announced
****	dates of sitting not yet announced

MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEES

SC C: Knives Bill

Mr Michael J Martin (Chairman)

Mrs Irene Adams		Sir Sydney Chapman		Mr Jim Cunningham
Mr Terry Dicks		Mr Don Dixon		Mr Hugh Dykes
Mr Nigel Evans		Mr Phil Gallie		Mr Peter Luff
Mr John McAllion		Mr David Maclean		Diana Maddock
Lady Olga Maitland		Mr David Mellor		Mr Alun Michael
Mr Don Touhig		Mr Jimmy Wray

SC C: Prisons (Alcohol Testing) Bill

Mr David Amess		Mr Michael Brown		Mr David Congdon
Mr Frank Field		Mr Nick Hawkins		Kate Hoey
Mr George Howarth		Mr John Hutton		Mr Bernard Jenkin
Mr Timothy Kirkhope		Mr Edward Leigh		Mr Andrew Mackinlay
Mr Denis MacShane		Mr Piers Merchant		Mr Bill Olner
Mr Michael Stephen

SC C: Horserace Totalisator Bill [HL]

Mr Hugh Bayley		Mr Henry Bellingham		Mr Nicholas Budgen
Sir John Cope		Mr Jim Cunningham		Mr Alan Duncan
Mrs Llin Golding		Mr John Greenway		Mr Timothy Kirkhope
Mr Denis MacShane		Alice Mahon		Mr Alan Meale
Mr William Powell		Mr David Rendel		Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Richard Spring

CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES

SC A: National Heritage Bill [HL]

Mr Donald Anderson, Sir Robert Hicks (Jt Chairmen)

SC B: Finance Bill (except clauses 40, 62, 68, 82, 92, Schedules 7, 13)

Sir James Hill, Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody (Jt Chairmen)

1st Scot SC: Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman and Commissioner for Local Administration in Scotland Bill

Mr Norman Hogg, Mr Michael Lord (Jt Chairmen)

STANDING COMMITTEES: MEETINGS
13 - 17 JANUARY 1997

Standing Committees on BILLS and DELEGATED LEGISLATION

TUESDAY 14 JANUARY

SC E: Social Security Administration (Fraud) Bill (Clauses 5-9 agreed to, some with amendments)

THURSDAY 16 JANUARY

SC E: Social Security Administration (Fraud) Bill (Clause 10. Clause 11 under consideration)

EUROPEAN STANDING COMMITTEE

WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY

Documents relating to the draft general budget of the European Communities for 1997

SCOTTISH GRAND COMMITTEE

MONDAY 13 JANUARY

City Chambers, Edinburgh

Oral Questions

Debate - On a motion for the adjournment on Scotland in the world (Government motion. Motion withdrawn)

Legislation - Flood Prevention and Land Drainage (Scotland) Bill, consideration in principle (Agreed to, no division)

Adjournment Debate - Mr Charles Kennedy on Skye Bridge tolls

STANDING COMMITTEES: FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
20 - 24 JANUARY 1997

TUESDAY 21 JANUARY

1st DLSC: Draft Broadcasting (Sign Language) Order 1996, 4.30 pm, Room 11

WEDNESDAY 22 JANUARY

2nd DLSC: Draft Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, 4.30 pm, Room 9

3rd DLSC: Education (Assisted Places) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations (S.I., 1996, No. 1808), 4.30 pm, Room 11

4th DLSC: Social Security Benefit (Computation of Earnings) Regulations 1996 (S.I., 1996, No. 2745) and Social Security (Invalid Care Allowance) Amendment Regulations 1996 (S.I., 1996, No. 2744)

THURSDAY 23 JANUARY

6th DLSC: Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 1996 (S.I., 1996, No. 2925), 10.30 am, Room 11

SC E: Social Security Administration (Fraud) Bill, 10.30 am, Room 14

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS OF THE SCOTTISH GRAND COMMITTEE

MONDAY 3 FEBRUARY

Debate - On a motion for the adjournment on education and local government finance in Scotland (Liberal Democrat motion)

MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY

Oral Questions

Debate - On a motion for the adjournment* (Scottish National Party motion)

* Subjects for debate will be known after 1.00 pm on Wednesdays preceding the meeting. Telephone the Public Information Office (0171 219 4272) for details.