Introduction
1.The increase in ad hoc committees, from one to four each session, was a popular development during the 2010–15 Parliament, and its continued popularity amongst members is demonstrated by the large number of members submitting proposals each session. Since 2012 the House of Lords has usually appointed four new ad hoc committees each session. At least one of these has been a post-legislative scrutiny committee, such scrutiny being another innovation in the 2010–15 Parliament.
2.The present session of Parliament is scheduled to last for two years. The ad hoc Committees which were appointed in Spring 2017 were, however, all ordered to report by 31 March 2018, to allow for new committees to be appointed for the second half of the session. Last autumn the Chairman accordingly invited proposals from members of the House for new ad hoc Committees to start in Spring 2018. Once again, we received a large number of proposals, which are included in Appendix 2.
3.We considered all the proposals received in accordance with our published criteria for selection, as follows:
- Makes best use of the knowledge and experience of Members of the House;
- Complements the work of House of Commons departmental select committees;
- Addresses areas of policy that cross departmental boundaries; and
- The activity proposed should be capable of being confined to one session.
4.Once again we had difficult choices to make, and are grateful to those members who put forward their proposals, in many cases clearly putting a considerable amount of effort into doing so.
5.Despite the popularity of ad hoc committees, several members have continued to draw attention to their obvious disadvantage compared to sessional committees, which is that the Committees do not continue once they have reported. There are also no dedicated resources to follow up their work, although the Liaison Committee itself has undertaken limited follow-up activity, supported by briefing notes prepared by Library staff. The question of following up the work of ad hoc Committees is being considered by our current major review of House of Lords Committee activity.
6.This report sets out our recommendations to the House as to the subject of the four new ad hoc Committees.