Witnesses
36. Some select committees have experienced occasional
difficulty in obtaining evidence from witnesses whom they considered
to be crucial to their enquiries. For example, a former Minister,
now a member of the House of Lords, might be the most appropriate
person to provide background information on a previous policy
decision or executive action. Yet the Standing Orders of both
Houses currently leave it to the individual Member to decide whether
or not to agree to give evidence to a select committee in the
other House. We recommend that, in the light of the recommendations
of the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege,[16]
these limitations on the power to require witnesses to give evidence
should be reviewed by the appropriate committees of both Houses.
16 HC 214-I of Session1998-99, paragraph 239. Back
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