The Procedure Committee has decided to look into establishing a
Budget Committee of the House of Commons, to examine Government
spending plans set out in multiannual spending reviews and annual
departmental estimates.
The creation of a Budget Committee was recommended by Mr (now
Sir) and in a 2011 report commissioned by
the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. They envisaged a committee
of the House to examine “economy, effectiveness and efficiency”
in the Government’s spending plans, mirroring the retrospective
scrutiny undertaken by the Public Accounts Committee. The
committee would benefit from the measures introduced by the
Treasury over the last decade to enable improved oversight of
public spending measures.
This inquiry continues the Procedure Committee’s work on scrutiny
of Government spending plans commenced in the 2015 Parliament. In
its 2017 report “Authorising Government
expenditure: steps to more effective scrutiny” the Committee
observed that “there are apparent benefits to the establishment
of a dedicated committee of the House, with specialist support,
to examine and report to the House on the merits of Government
spending plans”, and suggested the issue would be considered
further.
Written evidence is therefore invited, no later than
Thursday 4 October 2018, to address any or all of the
following points:
The requirement for a budget committee
- Whether a dedicated budget committee to examine Government
spending plans for economy, effectiveness and efficiency is
desirable
- What would be the potential outcomes for the House and for
the Government of detailed scrutiny of multi-annual Spending
Review and annual Estimates plans
- What the scope of a budget committee’s activities should be,
and what it should be expected to report on
The operation of a budget committee
- How such a committee ought to discharge its responsibilities
- The composition of a committee and its relationship with
existing departmental select committees
- The scope for innovative methods of operation, e.g.
functioning partly as a general committee to facilitate detailed
debates on selected estimates
Relations with existing mechanisms
- How a budget committee could operate alongside departmental
select committees
- How a budget committee could operate alongside the Public
Accounts Committee and the work of the National Audit Office
Support for a budget committee
- What resources would be required to provide effective support
for a committee of this nature
- The desirability of appointing a Parliamentary Budget Officer
and establishing an office to support the work of the committee
- The use a dedicated committee could make of Government annual
reporting and accounting documentation, under the Clear Line of
Sight initiative
Submissions should be made using the Committee’s online
portal at https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/procedure-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/commons-budget-committee-17-19/
Notes for Editors
