Committee of Selection (House of Commons)

Select Committee of the House of Commons

The Committee of Selection is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Unlike the Commons' other select committees, the Committee of Selection exists by virtue of the House's Standing Orders for Private Business, its rules for bills that affect only specific organizations or individuals.[1] Despite that, the committee is best known for appointing members of committees established under resolutions of the House and the Standing Orders for Public Business.

With few exceptions, notably the Committee of Selection itself, the standards committee, the privileges committee and the Liaison Committee, only members of the committee acting on its behalf may nominate new members to committees or propose the discharge of members. Appointments to select committees are made through motions put before the House of Commons, while appointments to general committees (such as public bill committees) are made by the committee's own authority.[2] With respect to private business, all private bills are automatically referred to the committee, which in turn either refers unopposed bills to the Unopposed Bill Committee and refers opposed bills to committees whose members it also appoints.[1]

## Role in the selection of public bill committees

[edit]

The Committee of Selection performs a crucial, yet often overlooked function in scrutinising legislation. The current structure of the committee is dominated by party whips. This means that the government effectively chooses which MPs will scrutinise its bills. Advocates of reform highlight that the current organisation of the committee means that MPs who are subject specialists or may hold views contrary to the leadership of their party can be kept off public bill committees. Suggested reforms include limiting the number of whips that can serve on the committee and allowing MPs a vote on public bill committee nominations.[3]

## Current members

[edit]

Members are elected at the beginning of each session. As of October 2022 the committee's membership is as follows:[4][5]

Member  | Party  | Constituency

|
|

| Bill Wiggin MP (chair)  | Conservative | North Herefordshire
| Jo Churchill MP  | Conservative | Bury St Edmunds
| Chris Elmore MP  | Labour | Ogmore
| Nigel Huddleston MP  | Conservative | Mid Worcestershire
| Lilian Greenwood MP  | Labour | Nottingham South
| Rebecca Harris MP  | Conservative | Castle Point
| Mark Tami MP  | Labour | Alyn and Deeside
| Richard Thomson MP  | Scottish National Party | Gordon
| Craig Whittaker MP  | Conservative | Calder Valley

## See also

[edit]

* Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b House of Commons Standing Order (Private Business) 109–111
2. ^ Standing Orders (Public Business) 85 & 86
3. ^ House of Commons – Political and Constitutional Reform Committee – Revisiting Rebuilding the House: the impact of the Wright reforms
4. ^ "Committee of Selection - Membership - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
5. ^ "Business Before Questions – Volume 720: debated on Tuesday 18 October 2022". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022. "That Sir David Evennett be discharged from the Committee of Selection and Nigel Huddleston be added."

## External links

[edit]

* Committee of Selection
* Records for this Committee are held at the Parliamentary Archives

* v
* t
* e

Current parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom

Commons|

| Departmental|

* Business and Trade
* Culture, Media and Sport
* Defence
* Education
* Energy Security and Net Zero
* Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
* Foreign Affairs
* Health and Social Care
* Home Affairs
* International Development
* Justice
* Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
* Northern Ireland Affairs
* Science, Innovation and Technology
* Scottish Affairs
* Transport
* Treasury
* Welsh Affairs
* Work and Pensions

|

Topical|

* Arms Export Controls
* Environmental Audit
* European Scrutiny
* Petitions
* Public Accounts
* Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs
* Statutory Instruments
* Women and Equalities

General|

* Panel of Chairs
* Public bill committees
* Delegated legislation committees
* European committees
* Northern Ireland Grand Committee
* Regional Affairs Committee
* Scottish Grand Committee
* Welsh Grand Committee

Internal|

* Administration
* Finance
* Backbench Business
* Liaison
* Procedure
* Selection
* Standards
* Privileges
* Works of Art

Statutory|

* House of Commons Commission
* Administration Estimate Audit
* Members Estimate
* Members Estimate Audit
* Public Accounts Commission
* Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
* Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Lords|

| Topical|

* Communications and Digital
* Constitution
* Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform
* Economic Affairs
* European Affairs
* International Agreements
* International Relations and Defence
* Secondary Legislation Scrutiny
* Science and Technology

|

Private|

* Hybrid Instruments
* Standing Orders

Internal|

* Lords Commission
* Finance
* Liaison
* Conduct
* Procedure and Privileges
* Selection

Domestic|

* Services
* Works of Art

Joint|

| Select|

* Consolidation Bills
* Human Rights
* National Security Strategy
* Statutory Instruments
* Tax Law Rewrite Bills

|

Statutory|

* Ecclesiastical Committee
* Intelligence and Security

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template