Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Saatchi (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 16 May 2006.

Parliament: Accountability of Executive

Question: My Lords, I think that one of the members of the Public Administration Committee in another place said this morning that his Select Committee was the pre-eminent court in the land. Alas, that is not strictly true, is it? I believe that Erskine May has made clear in all its editions from 1859 to the present day that there are clear limitations on the powers of our Select Committees to send for persons, papers and records. Therefore, would we not be better off on the accountability that my noble friend and, I am sure, all of us seek if our Select Committees had more powers of the type given to US congressional committees? Those powers include, as my noble friend Lord Kingsland said, the awesome power of subpoena and the fact that a false statement before a committee counts as perjury.

Answer: My Lords, we had a long and interesting debate about the powers of Select Committees during the passage of the Inquiries Bill. I hope that the noble Lord might look at that. Indeed, I spoke with the chairman of the Select Committee in question, Mr Wright, about the issues of concern. I think that the noble Lord will find that the powers of Select Committee are wide and varied, and I do not recall any Minister refusing to attend.

Secondary information