House of Commons Liaison Committee Building public engagement: Options for developing select committee outreach First Special Report of Session 2015–16 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 October 2015 HC 470 Published on 30 November 2015 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Liaison Committee The Liaison Committee is appointed to consider general matters relating to the work of select committees; to advise the House of Commons Commission on select committees; to choose select committee reports for debate in the House and to hear evidence from the Prime Minister on matters of public policy. Current membership Rt Hon Andrew Tyrie MP (Conservative, Chichester) (Chair) The Chairs of the following Select Committees are members of the Liaison Committee: Administration – Sir Paul Beresford MP (Conservative, Mole Valley) Backbench Business – Ian Mearns MP (Labour, Gateshead) Business, Innovation and Skills – Mr Iain Wright MP (Labour, Hartlepool) Communities and Local Government – Mr Clive Betts MP (Labour, Sheffield South East) Culture, Media and Sport – Jesse Norman MP (Conservative, Hereford and South Herefordshire) Defence – Rt Hon Dr Julian Lewis MP (Conservative, New Forest East) Education – Neil Carmichael MP (Conservative, Stroud) Energy and Climate Change – Angus Brendan MacNeil MP (Scottish National Party, Na h-Eileannan an Iar) Environmental Audit – Huw Irranca-Davies MP (Labour, Ogmore) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Neil Parish MP (Conservative, Tiverton and Honiton) European Scrutiny – Sir William Cash MP (Conservative, Stone) Finance – Mr Nicholas Brown MP (Labour, Newcastle upon Tyne East) Foreign Affairs – Crispin Blunt MP (Conservative, Reigate) Health – Dr Sarah Wollaston MP (Conservative, Totness) Home Affairs – Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Labour, Leicester East) International Development – Stephen Twigg MP (Labour/Co-op, Liverpool, West Derby) Justice –Robert Neill MP (Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst) Northern Ireland Affairs – Mr Laurence Robertson MP (Conservative, Tewkesbury) Petitions – Helen Jones MP (Labour, Warrington North) Privileges – Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) Procedure – Mr Charles Walker MP (Conservative, Broxbourne) Public Accounts – Meg Hillier MP (Labour/Co-op, Hackney South and Shoreditch) Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs – Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) Science and Technology – Nicola Blackwood MP (Conservative, Oxford West and Abingdon) Scottish Affairs – Pete Wishart MP (Scottish National Party, Perth and North Perthshire) Selection – Bill Wiggin MP (Conservative, North Herefordshire) Standards – Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) Statutory Instruments – Derek Twigg MP (Labour, Halton) Transport – Mrs Louise Ellman MP (Labour/Co-op, Liverpool Riverside) Treasury – Rt Hon Andrew Tyrie MP (Conservative, Chichester) Welsh Affairs – David T C Davies MP (Conservative, Monmouth) Women and Equalities – Mrs Maria Miller MP (Conservative, Basingstoke) Work and Pensions – Frank Field MP (Labour, Birkenhead) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Order No 145. The Standing Orders are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/liaison-committee/ Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Andrew Kennon (Clerk), Dr Stephen McGinness (Second Clerk), Anita Fuki (Senior Committee Assistant) and Liz Parratt (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Liaison Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5675; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] Building public engagement: Options for developing select committee outreach 1 Building public engagement 1. The Liaison Committee, in its 2012 report on effectiveness, resources and powers (HC 697), added a new core task on public engagement. In September 2014, towards the end of the last Parliament, the Committee commissioned some research into select committees’ effectiveness “in using inquiries to further public understanding of political issues”. The aim was to assist Committees in the new Parliament to devise their programmes and working methods. 2. The research has been conducted by Professor Matthew Flinders, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield, Professor Ian Marsh, Visiting Professor at University of Technology Sydney Business School, and Leanne-Marie Cotter, a Research Fellow in the Sir Bernard Crick Centre. The research covered: a) How interest groups prepare evidence; how they react to other participants; and generally how they engage in the proceedings; b) How the committee itself approaches its task; c) How committee findings are framed; d) Media engagement and reporting of evidence and findings; e) How participants themselves assess the standing and potential of the committee system. 3. Three core conclusions emerge from this research: a) There has been a significant shift within the select committee system to taking public engagement seriously and this is reflected in many examples of innovation. b) However, this shift has not been systematic and levels of public engagement vary significantly from committee to committee. c) A more vibrant and systematic approach to public engagement is urgently needed but this will require increased resources, a deeper appreciations of the distinctive contribution that select committees can make and, perhaps most important, a deeper cultural change at Westminster. 4. These conclusions closely mirror the recommendations made by the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy which indicated that there should be better use of infographics and visual data methods to stimulate greater public engagement with the work of Parliament. The Commission also recommended making more real-time information available online including live social media coverage. 2 Building public engagement: Options for developing select committee outreach 5. As recognised in the research, Select Committees have been at the forefront of engaging with new social media tools and utilising new digital communication methods, a trend that we are keen to maintain. 6. We are publishing this valuable research to stimulate discussion of these issues. Building public engagement: Options for developing select committee outreach 3 Appendix Biographical Note Matthew Flinders is Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield. He is also Chair of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom and a member of the board of the Academy of Social Sciences. Ian Marsh is Visiting Professor at University of Technology Sydney Business School. His co-authored study, Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal: Political Change in Britain, Australia and New Zealand (Cambridge, 2012) focuses on parliamentary committees as key potential nodes in democratic renewal. Leanne-Marie Cotter is a Research Fellow in the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield. She received her PhD from Cardiff University in 2015. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Professor ADH Crook Public Service Fellowships and the ESRC IAA in the production of this research-based report. 4 Building public engagement: Options for developing select committee outreach List of Figures and Tables Table 1. Building Public Engagement: Basic Issues Table 2. Building Public Engagement: Basic Opportunities Table 3. Inquiry Categorisations Table 4. Inquiry Patterns across Case Study Committees (2010 to 2014) Table 5. Oral Witnesses and Formal Written Submissions: Case Study Committees (2010 to 2014) Table 6. On-line Engagement Table 7. Off-line Engagement Table 8. Select Committees and Public Engagement Table 9. Building Public Engagement: Achieving Change Figure 1. Establishing Respondents First Awareness of Inquiry, percentage Figure 2. Activity Undertaken in Preparation Figure 3. The Importance of Outcome Figure 4. Experience of Submitting Oral Evidence Figure 5. Reporting Participation to Members Figure 6. Action Taken as Result of Committee Report Figure 7. Respondents Views on Committee Findings Figure 8. Worthwhile Features of Parliamentary Inquiry Appendix A. Off-Line Engagement (full case study audit) Building public engagement: Options for developing select committee outreach 5 Executive Summary 1. The relationship between the governors and the governed is changing. The impact of the internet and social media, the widened array of stand-alone issues on the public agenda (such as gay marriage, climate change, Europe), the changing nature of public attitudes to political institutions, processes and politicians, evidence of increasing democratic inequality and the declining reach and standing of the major parties—to mention just a few issues—have all focused attention on ‘disaffected democrats’ who, for a range of reasons, feel disconnected from traditional mainstream politics. Parliament is not ignorant about either the existence or implications of these changing social pressures and it is possible