Overview of the Committee's
activities in 2004
1. This report is a review of the Home Affairs Committee's
activities in 2004. We set out the main developments during the
year in this introductory section, and then review the Committee's
performance in relation to the indicative 'core tasks' for departmental
select committees specified by the Liaison Committee.
2. Our principal remit, set out in House of Commons
standing orders, is "to examine the expenditure, administration
and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies".[1]
In carrying out this remit, we aim to strike a balance between
(1) inquiries into major policy issues, (2) scrutiny of bills
or draft bills, and (3) 'one off' evidence sessions which enable
us to investigate other aspects of the Home Office's work and
that of its associated public bodies.
3. Our major activities in 2004 were the conclusion
of our inquiry into asylum applications, our review of the Government's
proposals for identity cards and the ensuing draft legislation,
and inquiries into the rehabilitation of prisoners, police reform,
terrorism and community relations, and anti-social behaviour.
A full list of subjects into which we inquired is set out in the
table on the following page.Table
1: Subjects covered by the Home Affairs Committee, 2004
| Subject | Evidence sessions in 2004
| Outcome |
| Asylum Applications |
- | Report, January 2004 [2]
|
| Identity Cards | 6
| Report, July 2004[3]
|
| Draft Identity Cards Bill
| 2 | Report, July 2004[4]
|
| Draft Sentencing Guidelines 1 and 2
| - | Report, November 2004[5]
|
| Rehabilitation of Prisoners
| 3 | Report, January 2005[6]
|
| Police Reform | 4
| Report to be published
|
| Home Office Target-Setting
| - | Report to be published
|
| Terrorism and Community Relations
| 3 | Report to be published
|
| Anti-Social Behaviour |
2 | Report to be published
|
| Criminal Cases Review Commission
| 1 | Evidence, January 2004[7]
|
| Homeland Security | 1
| Evidence, March 2004
(joint session with Defence Committee)[8]
|
| Impact of EU Enlargement on Migration to the UK
| 1 | Evidence, March 2004[9]
|
| Sentencing | 1
| Evidence, July 2004[10]
|
| Anti-Terrorism Powers |
1 | Evidence, July 2004[11]
|
| Departmental Annual Report 2004
| 1 | Evidence, July 2004[12]
|
| Work of the Home Office
| 1 | Evidence, November 2004[13]
|
4. During 2004 we went on a number of visits, as set out in Table
2 below. The overseas visit, to Stockholm and Berlin, proved extremely
useful. In our reports on identity cards and the rehabilitation
of prisoners we make specific mention of the lessons we learned
from Swedish and German experience in these fields of inquiry.[14]
Our visits to prisons in the UK were also of great value in the
context of our inquiry into rehabilitation of prisoners.
Table 2: Visits by the Home Affairs Committee in
2004
| Location | Purpose of visit
|
| HM Prisons Elmley, Swaleside and Standford Hill
| Inquiry into Rehabilitation of Prisoners
|
| HM Young Offenders Institution Aylesbury and HM Prisons Grendon and Springhill
| Inquiry into Rehabilitation of Prisoners
|
| HM Prison Brockhill and The Asha Centre
| Inquiry into Rehabilitation of Prisoners
|
| UK Passport Service Headquarters, London
| Inquiry into Identity Cards
|
| Stockholm and Berlin |
Inquiries into Rehabilitation of Prisoners and Identity Cards
|
| HM Prison Coldingley |
Inquiry into Rehabilitation of Prisoners
|
| HM Prison Belmarsh |
To observe the conditions of detainees held under anti-terrorism powers
|
| Brussels | Visit by the Chairman in a representative capacity to attend a meeting convened by the European Parliament to discuss the EU's future justice and home affairs strategy
|
5. One significant area of innovation for the Committee in 2004
was in relation to the formal scrutiny of draft sentencing guidelines.
We comment on this in more detail in paragraphs 24-25 below. Other
innovations were the 'prison diaries project' (see paragraphs
26-27 below), our scrutiny of revisions to the PACE codes (see
paragraph 28 below), our decision to host a conference of committees
of EU national parliaments in November 2005 (see paragraph 31
below), and our commissioning from the Home Office a review of
their implementation of past Committee recommendations (see paragraph
11 below).
1 In addition, Standing Order No. 152 (2) charges the
Committee with inquiring into the administration and expenditure
of the Attorney General's Office, the Treasury Solicitor's Department,
the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office (but
excluding individual cases and appointments and advice given within
government by Law Officers). Back
2
Second Report of Session 2003-04 (HC 218) Back
3
Fourth Report of Session 2003-04 (HC 130) Back
4
Ibid. Back
5
Fifth Report of Session 2003-04 (HC 1207) Back
6
First Report of Session 2004-05 (HC 193) Back
7
HC 289-i (2003-04) Back
8
HC 417-i (2003-04) Back
9
HC 435-i (2003-04) Back
10
HC 844-i (2003-04) Back
11
HC 886-i (2003-04) Back
12
to be printed (the evidence is available on the Committee's website:
www.parliament.uk/homeaffairscom) Back
13
HC 1222-i (2003-04). Back
14
HC 130-I (2003-04), paras 23-33, 38; HC 193-I (2004-05), paras
5, 12-13, 42, 165-70 and Annex 5 Back
|
