What is Parliamentary scrutiny?
Parliamentary scrutiny refers to the processes and mechanisms through which the legislature (Parliament) examines and oversees the actions of the executive branch of government. It serves as a critical check on executive power, ensuring that government actions are aligned with the citizens, and laws pass in their best possible way.
Parliamentary scrutiny functions as a mechanism that protects the interests of citizens by holding the executive accountable for its decisions and actions. This oversight occurs through various means, including select committees, question time and the opposition, which allow parliamentarians to examine government policies, expenditures, and legislative ideas.
This blog post looks at the most important types of parliamentary scrutiny you need to know for A-level Politics, and you may want to know in general. By examining these forms of scrutiny, we can appreciate their fundamental contribution to a well-functioning democratic society.
Select Committees
Select committees play a pivotal role in the parliamentary scrutiny of the executive branch of government. These committees are formed from MPs of various political parties and serve to investigate matters of public concern. Each committee is established for a specific government department, such as health or transport. This allows for a focused examination of different issues overseen by the executive related to that specific department.
The responsibilities of these committees include reviewing legislation, monitoring government expenditure, and conducting inquiries into various aspects of executive performance. Select committees gather evidence from a wide range of sources, including enquiries, written submissions, and direct questioning of government officials. In particular, this allows members of the public to participate in the political system by making their views on a particular issue heard.
This diverse array of evidence allows for thorough and detailed investigations, promoting legislative accountability. However, the sessions of select committees rarely make public attention, with many sessions carrying on for hours at a time. Whilst they are an important method of parliamentary scrutiny by diving deep into legislation, they are not perfect.
Question Time
No, not the BBC television show, Question Time is another method of parliamentary scrutiny of the Executive. It provides a structured environment for MPs to interrogate government ministers regarding their responsibilities and policy initiatives. The most famous is called Prime Minister’s Questions, which occurs every Wednesday at 12pm, broadcast live to the public on TV. It allows MPs of all parties to question the PM on their knowledge of all areas of government parties.
This method of parliamentary scrutiny ensures that the Prime Minister is kept up to date with their work of their department, and ministerial question time allows ministers from different government departments to update the House of Commons about their department’s work.
While question time plays a crucial role in maintaining governmental accountability, it is not without its limitations. Time constraints often restrict the number of questions that can be asked and answered in a single session. Moreover, ministers famously gloss around quesitons, undermining the effectiveness of question time as a parliamentary scrutiny method.
The Role of the Opposition
The opposition plays a critical role in the framework of parliamentary scrutiny, serving as a check on the power of the executive. By highlighting critiques of government actions and policies, the opposition ensures that there is a rigorous examination of decisions made by those in power. This process not only highlights potential deficiencies in governmental policy but also proposes alternative solutions that may be beneficial to society. There are 20 opposition days each year in which the Opposition can introduce legislative ideas of their own, but these are rarely successful, particularly with a large governing majority as achieved by Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer in 2019 and 2024 respectively.
Early Day Motions (EDMs)
Early Day Motions (EDMs) are formal motions submitted by Members of Parliament (MPs) for debate in the House of Commons. Although they rarely lead to an actual debate, EDMs serve an important function in parliamentary scrutiny by raising awareness of specific issues and garnering support from fellow MPs. They allow members to express concerns, mobilise public opinion, and highlight matters that may require further consideration. However, they are referred to by some leading political academics as ‘parliamentary graffiti’, demonstrating their widespread conception as a fairly ineffective method of scrutiny.
General Debates
General debates provide a valuable platform for discussing wide-ranging topics without a predetermined outcome. Unlike other parliamentary processes, general debates allow MPs to voice their opinions and concerns while engaging in informed discussions about national issues. These debates contribute to parliamentary scrutiny by providing a stage for various perspectives and facilitating an exchange of ideas. However, the absence of a conclusive resolution may limit their immediate effectiveness concerning government accountability. Despite this, general debates are instrumental in promoting transparency and informing the public about the complexities of governmental proceedings.
Conclusion
To conclude, this article has explained the different methods of parliamentary scrutiny. There are many methods of parliamentary scrutiny of the Executive that make up a series of checks and balances on the executive branch of government. To find out more and see how this could be applied to an essay question, make sure to join Study Politics and check out our UK government course.
