Committees

A large part of the work of the House of Commons and the House of Lords takes place in committees, made up of MPs or Lords. These committees consider policy issues, scrutinise the work and expenditure of the government, and examine proposals for primary and secondary legislation. Select committees (see below) operate largely by an investigative process, while legislative committees operate mainly by debate.

All committees A-Z

Select Committee news

Ministers questioned on mental health and well-being of looked-after children

Education Committee questions foster carers, looked after young person and Ministers on children’s mental health

Universal Credit: New concerns over delays and lack of clarity
Public Accounts Committee publishes report on delays in Universal Credit
EU referendum impact on Northern Ireland explored with academics
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee examines wide-ranging issues of EU referendum on Northern Ireland
Specialists give evidence on Economic and Monetary Union
EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee takes evidence on Wednesday 3 February at 10.15am

All Committee news

All committees A-Z

Inquiries A-Z

New Inquiries Date announced

IPSA annual report 2014-15	28.01.2016
Corporate Tax Deals	28.01.2016
ISIL financing	28.01.2016
Future flood prevention	27.01.2016
Valuation Office Agency	27.01.2016

All Inquiries

What's on

Wednesday 3 February 2016

House of Commons

Main Chamber

Time	Business
11:30am	Oral questions International Development, including Topical Questions
12:00pm	Prime Minister's Question Time
12:00am	Ten Minute Rule Motion Automatic Electoral Registration - Siobhain McDonagh
12:00am	Opposition Day Debate (18th allotted day) (i) Tax avoidance and multinational companies (ii) Public finances in Scotland
12:00am	Adjournment Child dental health - Sir Paul Beresford

Full Parliamentary calendar

Westminster Hall

Time	Business
9:30am - 11:00am	Westminster Hall debate Fuel poverty - Derek Thomas
11:00am - 11:30am	Westminster Hall debate Bryan Evans and the Serious Fraud Office - Byron Davies
2:30pm - 4:00pm	Westminster Hall debate Changes to the level of local government funding - Liz Kendall
4:00pm - 4:30pm	Westminster Hall debate Closure of Bootham Park mental health hospital - Rachael Maskell
4:30pm - 5:30pm	Westminster Hall debate Government investment in cycling - Chris Green

Full Parliamentary calendar

General Committee

Time	Business	Venue
9:30am	Welsh Grand Committee Draft Wales Bill	Room 10, Palace of Westminster
2:00pm	Welsh Grand Committee Draft Wales Bill	Room 10, Palace of Westminster

Full Parliamentary calendar

Select Committee

Time	Business	Venue
9:30am	High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill - Oral Evidence Session High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill Silklink (Grimstock Country Hotel) Robert Brown Bertylib LLP Heref Distribution Limited Mr and Mrs Raffety Rafine Ltd (Trading as Turville Valley Wines) West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service The Woodland Trust Warwickshire Wildlife Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Stop HS2	Room 5, Palace of Westminster
9:30am	Work and Pensions - Oral Evidence Session Universal Credit in-work progression Tony Wilson, Director of Policy and Research, Learning and Work Institute David Finch, Senior Economic Analyst, Resolution Foundation Emma Stewart MBE, Joint Chief Executive Officer, Timewise Foundation Dr Anthony Rafferty, Senior Lecturer in Employment Studies, Alliance Manchester Business School Julia Waltham, Head of Campaigns and Policy, Working Families	The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
9:30am	Northern Ireland Affairs - Oral Evidence Session Northern Ireland and the EU referendum Professor Neil Gibson, Director, Economic Policy Centre, University of Ulster Dr Leslie Budd, Reader, Open University Business School Dr Graham Gudgin, Research Associate, Centre For Business Research, University of Cambridge Dr Cathal McCall, Reader in Politics, Queen's University Belfast Dr Lee McGowan, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Queen's University Belfast Professor Dagmar Schiek, Jean Monet Professor of EU Law, Queen's University Belfast	Room 8, Palace of Westminster
9:45am	Education - Oral Evidence Session Mental health and well-being of looked after children Christine Malone, foster carer Teresa Latham, foster carer Shankly Monksfield, looked after young person Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP, Minister for Community and Social Care, Department of Health Edward Timpson MP, Minister for Children and Families, Department for Education	The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
1:45pm	Environmental Audit - Oral Evidence Session Flooding: Cooperation across Government George Monbiot, Columnist, The Guardian Dr Richard North, Blogger and campaigner Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive, Environment Agency John Curtin, Acting Executive Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management, Environment Agency	The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
2:00pm	High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill - Oral Evidence Session High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill As for morning session, unless already heard	Room 5, Palace of Westminster
2:00pm	Scottish Affairs - Oral Evidence Session Revising Scotland’s Fiscal Framework Rt Hon Greg Hands MP, Chief Secretary, HM Treasury Ms Lindsey Whyte, Deputy Director, Devolution, HM Treasury	Room 18, Palace of Westminster
2:15pm	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - Oral Evidence Session Air quality Rory Stewart MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Cabinet Office	Room 8, Palace of Westminster
2:15pm	Culture, Media and Sport - Oral Evidence Session Establishing World-Class Connectivity Throughout the UK Avanti Communications Group plc WiSpire Ltd West Yorkshire Combined Authority Westminster City Council Connecting Devon and Somerset	The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
2:15pm	Treasury - Oral Evidence Session The economic and financial costs and benefits of UK's EU membership Andrew Bailey, Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive Officer of the Prudential Regulation Authority Tracey McDermott, Acting Chief Executive, Financial Conduct Authority	The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
2:30pm	Public Accounts - Oral Evidence Session Contracted out health and disability assessments Rachael Badger, Head of Policy for Families, Welfare and Work, Citizens Advice Phil Reynolds, Co-Chair, Disability Benefits Consortium Tom Pollard, Policy and Campaigns Manager, MIND Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions Nicole Kett, Director, Health Service, Department for Work and Pensions Chris Stroud, Divisional Managing Director, Capita Leslie Wolfe, General Manager, Maximus UK David Haley, Client Executive, Personal Independence Payment, Atos	The Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House

House of Lords

Main Chamber

Time	Business
3:00pm	Oral questions Effectiveness to date of the RAF’s Brimstone missiles in bombing Syria, and in particular in protecting the civilian population - Lord Thomas of Gresford
12:00am	Oral questions Review into funding for extremist interpretations of Islam within the UK - Lord Wallace of Saltaire
12:00am	Oral questions What Her Majesty’s Government have assessed to be the major benefits of the privatisation of Channel 4 - Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury
12:00am	Oral questions Sugar tax proposals in light of World Health Organisation's analysis of the Report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity - Lord Clinton-Davis
12:00am	Legislation Immigration Bill - Committee stage (day 4) - Committee of the Whole House - Lord Bates
12:00am	Motion Explanatory Memorandum to the Housing Benefit (Abolition of the Family Premium and Date of Claim Amendment) Regulations 2015 - motion to regret - Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Lord Freud

Full Parliamentary calendar

Grand Committee

Date	Business
No business announced

Full Parliamentary calendar

Select Committee

Time	Business	Venue
10:00am	EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee - Oral Evidence Session Completing Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (at 10:15 AM) Professor Lucia Quaglia, Department of Politics, University of York Dr. Andrew Lilico, Executive Director and Principal, Europe Economics Mr. David Marsh, Managing Director, OMFIF (Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum)	Room 4, Palace of Westminster
10:15am	Constitution Committee - Private Meeting	Room 1, Palace of Westminster
10:30am	EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee - Private Meeting	Room 3, Palace of Westminster
10:30am	EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee - Oral Evidence Session Responding to price volatility: creating a more resilient agricultural sector (at 11:00 AM) Mr Oliver McEntyre, National Agriculture Strategy Director, Barclays Mr Allan Wilkinson, Head of Food and Agriculture, HSBC Group Mr Lindsay Sinclair, Group Chief Executive, NFU Mutual Dr Harald Jahn, Head of Division, Natural Resources and Agro-Industry, European Investment Bank	Room 2, Palace of Westminster
10:30am	Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee - Private Meeting	Room 2A, Palace of Westminster
3:30pm	Finance Bill Sub-Committee - Oral Evidence Session Draft Finance Bill 2016 (at 3:35 PM) Mr John Whiting, Tax Director, Office of Tax Simplification Mr Chris Sanger, Adviser, E&Y (at 4:35 PM) Mr Mike Cherry, Policy Director, Federation of Small Businesses Mr Andrew Chamberlain, Director of Policy, IPSE	Room 4, Palace of Westminster
4:00pm	Information Committee (Lords) - Private Meeting	Room 2, Palace of Westminster

More about committees

Select committees

Both Houses establish select committees to conduct inquiries and to produce reports on a range of matters, from the conduct of Government to specialist subject areas. Information on their work can be found on the select committee page.

Legislative committees

Both Houses refer legislation to committees for detailed discussion and approval. These committees are part of the process of making laws and include public bill committees, delegated legislation committees and committees on private bills. There is more in Bills and Legislation.

Other committees

Some other committees are established either by statute of either House, with a range of specific functions. These committees can be found through Committees A-Z.

Guides to committees

The About Parliament section of our site provides information on the types of Parliamentary committees and their work.

Related information

How do House of Lords Select Committees work?

Watch an overview of the work of Lords Select Committees, the influence they have and the impact of their reports and recommendations.

Video: House of Lords Select Committees overview

How do House of Commons Select Committees work?

This short film explains the role and impact of select committees of the House of Commons, their membership, how they conduct inquiries, what it's like to be a witness and how you can get involved.

Select Committees of the House of Commons film