How effective is Parliament in Controlling the Executive?

However, Select Committees appear to be far more successful and are one of the best scrutiny mechanisms. Though they have no great power, they carry great influence and, according to Peter Hennessy, are ‘the single most important weapon of increased parliamentary influence in the 20th Century. Committees run for the whole duration of Parliament, not just one session. This helps create continuity throughout the Commons. A further advantage is the relatively low level of absenteeism, suggesting a certain amount of respect for the committees. The Lords also has a number of Select Committees, like the House of Commons. However, unlike the Commons, Lords investigate committees do not mirror the work of particular government departments. Instead, they deal with broader issues and draw on the wide-ranging experience of members. In this way, the House of Lords system of committees complements the scrutiny of the executive carried out by the Commons. All committee finances are controlled by the House of Commons, not the Treasury, and investigations also tend to attract media attention, thus helping keep Government to account. An example of this was the media interest in the Foreign Affairs Committee 1998 investigation into arms to Sierra Leone. Select Committees can also gain access to valuable government information that would have otherwise remained undisclosed. However, committees hold no power to demand this information and any details the Government does not wish to release will remain undisclosed. And, whilst some of the committees suggests may be acted upon, the government has no obligation to act on suggestions and often ignores committee criticism. For example, the government ignored the Health Committee’s attack on its handling of F1 tobacco sponsorship. Committees are also put in a difficult position in that; they are likely to be ignored by the government when they divide on party lines, yet will be criticised when they are in consensus. Finally, committees often lack adequate research and administrative resources to make informed conclusions.

Her Majesty’s Opposition form an important part of the scrutiny process. The adversarial way in which the Commons operates is believed to keep the government to account, therefore the opposition party is given time and opportunities in the House of Commons that are unavailable to other parties. The Opposition will be consulted on bipartisan matters (matters likely to be approved by all parties i.e. fighting terrorism, N.I. peace deal. The Opposition are also given 17 ‘Opposition Days’ a year for debate and criticism of the government, again another method of the legislature scrutinising the executive. However, the Oppositions main function is simply to act as an alternative to the current government, and their scrutiny has little effect over the executive. The ‘Opposition Days’ are particularly ineffective due to the high level of absence from the House of Commons on these particular days, and the rowdy debates that take place.

Finally, government expenditure is audited by the Auditor General. He is independent from the treasury and reports to the Public accounts Committee (PAC). PAC is a influential committee chaired by the Opposition and can question all civil servants. The PAC reports to the House of Commons and all findings are publicised in the press, thus keeping the Government to account. However, the control of finance could be seen as a formality due to the vagueness of the government’s estimates and the fact that the budgets of the security and intelligence industries are not available for scrutiny. As previously mentioned, the effectiveness of the legislature controlling the executive can be determined by the size of the Government’s majority and party unity. An example of this was shown on 27th January 2004, during a vote over University tuition fees. The Labour Government, holding a majority of over 160, should have won the vote easily. However, due to a period of party disunity, Labour’s majority was reduced to only 5, narrowly winning the vote.

In conclusion, the effects of Question Time, Select Committees, the Opposition Party and the controlling of finance are minimal. Overall, Select Committees functioning marginally better than others. It could be concluded that the legislature has no control over the executive and its powers of scrutiny are limited. In fact, ignoring the recent Tuition fees votes, a large majority can insure a government has overall control of the legislature.