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Review of House of Lords investigative and scrutiny committee activity in 2022–23 Contents

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Chapter 3: Special inquiry Committees

Introduction

72.The House appoints special inquiry committees on the basis of proposals from members, which are assessed by the Liaison Committee. This allows the House to work flexibly, directing committee work to matters of current concern, in inquiries which usually take around ten months to complete. This approach also increases the number of members who are able to participate in committee work. This Chapter summarises the work of the four special inquiry committees during 2022. It then outlines the work of the Liaison Committee in following up the recommendations of previous special inquiries, ensuring the Government has fulfilled its commitments. Finally, there is an assessment of another time-limited committee, on Common Frameworks.

Adult Social Care Committee

73.The Committee published its report A “gloriously ordinary life”: Spotlight on adult social care in December 2022.133 An Easy Read version was also published.134 During the inquiry, the Committee took an inclusive approach to witnesses, making sure to hear from disabled people, older adults, and unpaid carers, as well as service providers, local authorities, charities, academics, and Government officials. The Committee heard from 49 witnesses and accepted 145 pieces of written evidence. A highlight was the Committee’s visit to Real, a disabled people’s organisation. The report set out a new approach to adult social care which calls on the Government to commit to a more positive and resilient approach to adult social care based on greater visibility for the whole sector, as well as greater choice and control for disabled adults and older people and a better deal for unpaid carers.

74.The report received extremely positive press and social media coverage, including by national newspapers such as the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph and Express,135 BBC Radio,136 and by a large range of specialist press. The report also received positive Twitter engagement including: “Brilliant report on #SocialCare by @HLAdultCare Great to see recommendations rooted in the lives of people who work and draw upon care, with an emphasis on co-production!”137 The social care sector was very supportive and praised the Committee’s recommendations and the readable style in which the report was written. The Government’s response to the report was generally positive, in particular regarding improvements to carer’s leave, embracement of co-production, and work on ensuring better data collection and R&D innovation.138

Children and Families Act 2014

75.During the 2022–23 session the Children and Families Act 2014 Committee concluded its inquiry and published its report, Children and Families Act 2014: A failure of implementation.139 The Committee’s scrutiny focused on adoption, family justice, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), employment rights and children and young people’s mental health.

76.Among other recommendations, the report highlighted a lack of monitoring and evaluation of the Act and called for the Government to improve mechanisms for post-legislative monitoring and scrutiny. A response from the Government was published on 9 February 2023 which set out the Government’s view that whilst some parts of the Act require continued focus on their implementation, there are areas where the Act has had a positive impact on children and families.140

77.The Committee’s report was the culmination of an inquiry which involved hearing from 44 witnesses in evidence sessions and receiving more than 150 pieces of written evidence. The Committee also made efforts to hear directly from members of the public who might not otherwise take part in select committee inquiries. The Committee visited a school and SEND community centre in North London, a family court in Oxford, and a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) centre in South London. The Committee held roundtable discussions with birth parents from across the UK, adoptive parents from Yorkshire, young people with experience of the family justice system, and people working in children and young peoples’ mental health. The Committee also conducted an online survey, which received over 400 responses.

78.The report received considerable media coverage, with opinions pieces by the Chair featured in Politics Home,141 and The Times Red Box142 and Children and Young People Now.143 The Chair was also interviewed for Today in Parliament. The sector specific press covered the report extensively, including articles in School’s Week144, FE News145 and Community Care146.

Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud

79.The Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud Committee published its report Fighting Fraud: Breaking the Chain on 12 November 2022.147 The Committee called for delays to some payments, to include fraud as a policing priority and measures to boost corporate criminal liability. The Committee concluded the Fraud Act 2006 is a “sound piece of legislation that is not in need of substantial reform” however, called for the sentencing guidelines to be amended to fully reflect the “financial, emotional and psychological harms caused by fraud.”

80.The report was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, and in the Telegraph and Financial Times amongst other outlets.148 The promotional video was viewed 23,000 times on Twitter.149 The Committee Chair was interviewed on Lord Speaker’s Corner regarding the report’s findings.150

81.The inquiry took over 100 written submissions and heard from over 45 witnesses, including Minister for Security, the Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MP, and comedian and consumer rights champion, Joe Lycett.151 Members heard from industry representatives and met victims in a visit to Birmingham.

82.Published on 9 March 2023, the Government’s response thanked the Committee for a “rigorous investigation into the impact of digital fraud”.152 The Home Office recognised the contribution of the Committee in shaping the Fraud Strategy, which was published in May 2023.153

Land Use in England Committee

83.The Land Use in England Committee was appointed in January 2022 and published its report, Making the most out of England’s land, in December 2022.154 The report supported the creation of a land use framework for England, to help balance competing demands including food production, nature, carbon sequestration, housing, infrastructure and access.

84.The Committee heard from 52 witnesses in public evidence sessions as well as accepting 108 pieces of written evidence. Key witnesses included representatives from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Natural England, the National Farmers’ Union, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), the Woodland Trust and the Ramblers.

85.In June, members visited the 8 Hills Countryside Management project in Worcestershire to study its pilot approach to integrated land use, and then went on to the Sapperton Nature Recovery project in Gloucestershire to look at approaches to agroforestry and nature recovery. In each case the visit included a roundtable with key stakeholders. The Committee also held roundtable discussions in Westminster with experts to discuss what a land use framework might look like.

86.During the Committee’s inquiry the Government published its food strategy, which included a commitment to create a land use framework in 2023 which would “reflect and respond to” the work of the Committee.155 The draft framework is expected to be published some time in 2023. The Committee’s work has thus already had a direct impact on Government policy. The Government’s response agreed with a number of the Committee’s proposals for design of a land use framework, including on the need for independent oversight, an emphasis on multifunctional uses, and on the more effective use of Green Belt land.156

Liaison Committee special inquiry follow-up inquiries

87.On 21 June 2022, the House of Lords debated the Committee’s fourth follow-up report, Equality Act 2010: The Impact on Disabled People Follow-up Report.157 The report condemned the non-commencement of section 36 of the Equality Act 2010, which would enable disabled tenants or leaseholders to require that reasonable adjustments are made to common parts in their homes. In the debate the Minister announced that on 9 June 2022 the Government had launched a consultation into how this section would be implemented. The consultation closed on 18 August 2022 and it is anticipated the Government response “will be published as soon as possible in 2023.”158 The Minister also noted that from September to December 2020 the Government consulted on raising the accessibility standards of new homes and committed to provide further detail on their plans in due course. Subsequently the Government published its response concluding that Part M4(2) of the Building Regulations on accessible and adaptable dwellings should be mandated and the need for further consultation to bring the changes into effect.159 The Government also carried out a consultation on the best practice guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities as called for by the follow-up inquiry. The consultation closed on 20 June 2022 and Government is analysing the feedback received.160

88.In the reporting period the Liaison Committee concluded its sixth special inquiry committee follow-up inquiry into the recommendations of the post-legislative scrutiny Committee on the Licensing Act 2003. The original committee reported in April 2017.161 The Liaison Committee wrote to Victoria Atkins MP, the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, on 31 January 2019 for an update on the report recommendations.162 A response was received on 5 November 2019.163 On 10 March 2022 the Liaison Committee carried out three evidence sessions with nine witnesses. The follow-up report was published on 11 July 2022, with recommendations focusing on the coordination of the licensing and planning systems, the ‘Agent of Change’ principle, the training required in the sector, the night-time economy and the pricing and taxation of alcohol.164 The Government Response was received on 8 November 2022.165 The Government agreed with the Committee’s recommendation to include the ‘Agent of Change’ principle in the section 182 Guidance and this was published in December 2022.166 The Committee also recommended the amendments to the Late Night Levy under the Policing and Crime Act 2017 be consulted on as a matter of urgency. The Government subsequently published a consultation on 9 January 2023 which closed on 4 April 2023. A Government Response is yet to be published.167 The former Chair and two former members tabled amendments to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill at committee stage to legislate on the ‘Agent of Change’ principle to bring greater clarity and protection to existing licensed premises and new developments.168

89.The Committee also commenced its seventh special inquiry follow-up into the Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities’ 2019 report, The future of seaside towns.169 The Committee requested an update on the report recommendations in a letter to the then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 17 March 2021.170 Luke Hall MP, the then Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, provided information on the progress made on 16 June 2021.171

90.Former members of the Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities took part in three evidence sessions held across 20 and 28 March 2023.172 During the original inquiry the Select Committee carried out six visits to coastal communities in Clacton-on-Sea and Jaywick, Blackpool and Fleetwood, Margate, Skegness, Cornwall and Scarborough. The follow-up inquiry received written evidence from three of these areas.173 The report will be published this year.

Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee

91.Common frameworks are agreements under which the UK Government and the devolved administrations seek to coordinate the regulation of the UK’s post-Brexit internal market.

92.The Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee was initially appointed in September 2020 to “scrutinise and consider matters relating to common frameworks” until the end of 2019–21 parliamentary session.174 As the Government’s timetable for agreeing common frameworks slipped, the Liaison Committee recommended that the Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee be extended to complete its work by the end of 2021175, with a subsequent extension until the end of July 2022 being agreed in October 2021.176 Due to further delay to the finalisation of the remaining common frameworks, on 28 November 2022, the Liaison Committee agreed a further and final extension until the end of 2023 for the purpose of scrutinising any outstanding frameworks published during this period.177

93.The Committee published its second and final report in July 2022178 and the Government’s response was received in October 2022.179 The Committee engaged in further correspondence with the Government on a number of matters arising from the response.

94.Over the financial year 2022/23, the Committee scrutinised and sent recommendations to the Government on a further 9 provisional common frameworks, including those relating to air quality, pollution prevention and control, and food standards and labelling. This included analysis of the relationship between common frameworks and wider related matters such as the UK Internal Market Act 2020, the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, and the impact of the Retained European Union Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.180

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