Dods Monitoring: Select Committees 2020: Select Committee Membership A look at the new makeup of the Select Committees in the House of Commons March 2020 Dods Monitoring: Select Committees Contents • Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy • Defence • Digital, Culture, Media & Sport • Education • Environmental Audit • Environment, Food & Rural Affairs • Foreign Affairs • Health & Social Care • Home Affairs • Housing, Communities & Local Government • International Development • International Trade • Justice • Northern Ireland Affairs • Public Accounts • Public Administration & Constitutional Affairs • Science & Technology • Scottish Affairs • Transport • Treasury • Welsh Affairs • Women & Equalities • Work & Pensions March 2020 Dods Monitoring: Select Committees Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Overview The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee examines the administration, expenditure and policy for the BEIS Governmental department. Much like the department, their scrutiny is widespread across business matters, energy and decarbonisation, regulation and industrial growth. Rachel Reeves has chaired the Committee since July 2017 and has been a popular figure in the role. She was appointed Chair of the Committee again in an un- contested election. It would be fair to suggest that the Committee has been an influential force within business and energy matters across Government policy in recent years. The Committee’s inquiries Chair: Rachel Reeves have included those on failing business (Thomas Cook, the UK steel industry, Carillion) and more policy focussed areas, such as the roll out of smart meters and Brexit and its implications for UK business. Since the legislation of the Government’s net zero target, the Committee has worked on an increasing number of decarbonisation inquiries, including smart meter roll out, clean growth strategy and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). Whilst it is unconfirmed which inquiries will be continued, with Reeves retaining chairmanship, it is likely that incomplete inquiries would be continued. Green energy and post- Brexit competition is likely to take a front seat of any new inquiries, if there are no large-scale changes to the machinery of Government. Membership • Rachel Reeves (Lab, Leeds West) (Chair) • Alan Brown • Richard Fuller • Ms Nusrat Ghani, • John Howell, • Mark Jenkinson • Peter Kyle • Pat McFadden • Anna McMorrin • Mark Pawsey • Alexander Stafford March 2020 Dods Monitoring: Select Committees Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Overview In the last Parliament, the DCMS Committee could make a legitimate claim to be the most influential committee in the House of Commons. Chaired with enthusiasm by Conservative MP Damien Collins, the Committee produced leading work on immersive and addictive tech- nologies and online harms, helping to shape Government policy in these areas and more. Collins was expected to easily win the chair once more, but, Julian Knight won a surprise victory. Collins was particularly interested in digital and tech issues as chair, adopting a Chair: Julian Knight slightly more back-seat role on topics that fit more traditionally into the “culture” brief. In contrast, Knight has been extremely vocal on the role of the BBC, describing the licence fee as a “poll tax” and saying Government needed to act as a “critical friend”. Knight doesn’t mark a total break with Collins, however, having expressed his desire to see the DCMS Committee calling in the bosses of internet providers and holding them to account for the failures in their services. Membership • Julian Knight (Con, Solihull) (Chair) • Kevin Brennan • Steve Brine • Philip Davies • Clive Efford • Julie Elliott • Damian Green • Damian Hinds • John Nicolson • Jo Stevens • Giles Watling March 2020 Dods Monitoring: Select Committees Defence Overview The primary focus of the Defence Select Committee is procurement. In the last Parliament, such inquiries covered contracts for mechanised infantry vehicles, F-35s and military homes. The Committee has also investigated the domestic threat of drones, defence in the Strait of Hormuz, and the UK’s response to hybrid threats. Looking to this Parliament the UK’s nuclear deterrent may be subject to a Committee in- quiry after a NAO report criticised the MoD for delays and huge cost over-runs at nuclear sites. The UK’s relationship with security partners such as NATO and the Five Eyes may also Chair: Tobias Ellwood come under the spotlight as Brexit continues. As chair in the last Parliament, Julian Lewis was particularly concerned about the risk Chinese telecoms giant Huawei posed to the UK’s critical national infrastructure. He is an ardent opponent of letting the company invest in UK CNI, choosing to question Theresa May on the matter in a Liaison Committee session. Boris Johnson’s sub- sequent decision to allow the provider to invest in a limited capacity in 5G is likely to be scrutinised thoroughly across Parliament, and this Committee is likely to play a significant role in that. Lewis did not run to be chair again and is tipped to become chair of the Security and Intelligence Committee. His replacement, forces reservist and former regular soldier Tobias Ellwood said it was a “huge privilege” to take on the role “at such a critical time for UK security”. He acknowledged “we are in a period of phenomenal global change, more widespread and profound than at any time outside of world war”. As chair, he would speak up “for our brave service personnel in scrutinising the Government's national security strategy”. His statement also mentioned the rise of new threats in the international defence system and the de- mand for “greater honesty” about the state of the British Armed Forces, the procurement process, readiness and resilience. Membership • Tobias Ellwood (Con, Bournemouth East) (Chair) • Stuart Anderson, • Sarah Atherton • Wayne David • Richard Drax • Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi • Mark Francois • Martin Docherty-Hughes • Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck • Gavin Robinson • John Spellar March 2020 Dods Monitoring: Select Committees Education Overview Under the respected stewardship of former Education Secretary, Robert Halfon, the Educa- tion Select Committee proved influential in shaping debate over the course of the last Par- liament. Halfon has been retained as Chair once more, and the Committee has plenty to focus on this time out, The committee will be eager to meet the new Secretary of State Gavin Williamson for the first time and will likely grill him on the Government’s plans for the £3bn National Skills Chair: Robert Halfon Fund. The Government’s T Level reforms may also come under scrutiny. The first wave set to be launched in Autumn 2020, and the Level 3 review has unearthed disquiet from a range of stakeholders concerning; employer awareness, university buy-in, and the potential impact on Applied General Qualifications. With the roll-out taking place over three years, T-levels may represent a major focus for the committee over the course of the parliament. Given his continued position as Chair, Halfon is expected to resurrect some unfinished inquiries from the last Parliament, including the examination of adult skills and lifelong learning, and the children’s social care work- force. It will be also interesting to see whether last year’s one-off session on knife crime evolves into something more substantive. Finally, it is unclear whether the Government will respond to the committee’s unanswered report on special educational needs and disabilities. The new administration is under no parliamentary compul- sion to do so, and moreover announced a “major review” into SEND funding and support in September last year. Membership • Robert Halfon (Chair) • Fleur Anderson • Apsana Begum • Jonathan Gullis • Tom Hunt • Dr Caroline Johnson • David Johnston • Ian Mearns • Lucy Powell • David Simmonds • Christian Wakeford March 2020 Dods Monitoring: Select Committees Environment Audit Overview The Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) remit extends across government and consid- ers the extent to which policies and programmes of government departments and non- departmental bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, whilst auditing their performance against sustainable development and environmental pro- tection target. It has been noted that the Committee receives extensive support from the National Audit Office in its crucial role of holding the government to account. Acknowledging previous Chair Mary Creagh’s impressive record, new Chair Philip Dunne has acknowledged that he has a tough act to follow. He has specifically stated that, with Chair: Philip Dunn the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow, he hopes the EAC can push the agenda “further and fast- er” for the UK to lead the way internationally to commit to action on climate change. With this is mind, the Committee may seek to reopen the Net zero government inquiry which closed due to the December general election. With rumours of Departments closing or merging, given the Committee’s cross de- partmental role, they may look to scrutinise any plans to understand how new departments will contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development. Further to this, with the introduction of the Environ- ment Bill and its commitment to set up the Office for Environmental Protection, along with embedding environ- mental principles into future policy making, the Committee may wish to scrutinise these. Membership • Philip Dunne (Chair) • Duncan Baker • Feryal Clark • Sir Christopher