1 Introduction
1. The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC)
is made up of 11 MPs from the three largest parties represented
in the House of Commons. We have two main roles: to examine the
reports of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman[1];
and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards
of administration provided by Civil Service departments, and other
matters relating to the civil service. In this, we differ from
departmental Select Committees because we look at the work of
the Civil Service as a whole, rather than at particular departments.
We also scrutinise the work of the Cabinet Office and its agencies
and public bodies, and other public bodies, including:
· the
Charities Commission;
· the
UK Statistics Authority;
· the
House of Lords Appointments Commission;
· the
Commissioner for Public Appointments; and
· the
Committee on Standards in Public Life.
2. During the 2010-2015 Parliament, we conducted
60 inquiries on a range of issues, from the accountability of
quangos and public bodies, to complaints and clinical failure
in the health service and the impartiality of the civil service
during referendums. We have conducted 'big picture' inquiries
into the strategic challenges facing the Civil Service such as
Strategic thinking in Government, as well as holding pre-appointment
hearings and one-off evidence sessions.[2]
We have also scrutinised Government policies in other areas under
the jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office; such as the 'Big Society',
the honours system, Government procurement (and in particular
the procurement of IT equipment and software), and charity law.
3. We have received written and oral evidence from
a wide range of people and organisations and we are grateful for
the time and effort they have taken to contribute to our work,
which would not have been possible without their generosity. Analysis
has shown that our witnesses were not as gender balanced as for
some other Select Committees, and we hope that our successor Committee
will address this in the next Parliament.
4. Before 2010, our predecessor Committees also covered
the subject matter which has been, for the last five years, under
the remit of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee.
The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee was established
under a temporary House of Commons Standing Order in order to
scrutinise the responsibilities of the Deputy Prime Minister.
This included such topics as the referendum on electoral reform
and House of Lords reform, which were put on the agenda by the
coalition agreement. By implication the Deputy Prime Minister's
responsibilities were removed from PASC's remit.
5. We conclude
that the establishment of the Select Committee on Political and
Constitutional Reform has enabled PASC to concentrate its effort
on a narrower remit, albeit with more limited resources. The disadvantage
has been the dislocation of our work where our respective remits
overlap, on such subjects as the Cabinet Manual, the effects of
the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, devolution and decentralisation,
and other changes in the UK constitution which affect the nature
of government.
6. As the Political and Constitutional Reform
Committee will cease to exist we therefore recommend that its
remit be returned to PASC in the new Parliament, so long as PASC
is given sufficient resources to support the full burden of its
restored remit.
7. The table below sets out some headline figures
regarding our work:
| Session 2010-12
| Session 2012-13 |
Session 2013-14 | Session 2014-15
| Total |
| Meetings | 82
| 44 | 41
| 31 | 198
|
| Reports | 24
| 9 | 15
| 7 | 55
|
| Special Reports | 2
| 5 | 8
| 6 | 21
|
| Witnesses | 173
| 111 | 140
| 109 | 533
|
| Number of evidence sessions
| 62 | 41
| 33 | 25
| 161 |
8. In addition to our formal publications and correspondence,
the Committee has an active Twitter account (@CommonsPASC) with
more than 2,000 followers. Our work regularly generates interest
among members of the public, including civil servants, complainants
and others, as well as in the media. We are one of the most watched
parliamentary Committees, with more than 225,000 online views
of our evidence sessions from 2010 to the end of 2015.
9. Key developments since 2010 which have affected
our work include:
· the
Government's extensive Civil Service reform programme, arguably
the broadest such reform programme since 1968, which has been
pursued in a context of severe financial challenge and shrinking
headcounts, leading to decreased funding for the bodies we scrutinise;[3]
· public
bodies reforms, which have been significant, leading to a decline
in aggregate in the number of public bodies and their staff numbers
and funding, but which have not been co-ordinated with wider Civil
Service reforms and health reforms;[4]
· changes
in the role and remit of the Cabinet Secretary, who is now again
also Head of the Civil Service;
· the
appointment of non-executive directors in Government departments;
· the
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 recognised the Civil
Service Code and established the Civil Service Commission on a
statutory basis; and
· the
continuing failure of the Cabinet Office-funded Iraq Inquiry to
publish a report on its work.
1 Technically, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
and the Health Service Commissioner for England. House of Commons Standing Orders,
December 2013, S.O. No. 146 Back
2
Public Administration Select Committee, Twenty-Fourth Report of
Session 2010-12, Strategic thinking in Government: without National Strategy, can viable Government strategy emerge?,
HC 1625, April 2012 Back
3
National Audit Office, Memorandum on the 2012 Civil Service Reform Plan,
HC 915, January 2013 Back
4
Public Administration Select Committee, First Report of Session
2014-15, Who's accountable? Relationships between Government and arm's-length bodies,
HC 110, November 2015 Back
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