COMMITTEE, SELECT-COMMITTEE, STANDING
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and the Committee for the Journals. There is also a sessional- joint committee of the second type on Consolidation, &c., Bills.
COMMITTEE, SPECIALIST SELECT
A term applied to a select committee of the House of Commons appointed with wide terms of reference to consider policy and administration in a particular field. Since 1966 select committees of this type have been appointed in one or more sessions to con- sider Science and Technology, Agriculture, Education and Science, Race Relations and Immigration, Scottish Affairs and Overseas Aid.
The intention with "specialist" select committees has been that they should consist wholly or mainly of members who already have special knowledge of the subject which the com- mittees are to consider.
These committees have all been given the power to admit unless the strangers during the examination of witnesses Committee otherwise order". This power has been interpreted to mean that strangers can be excluded during the examination of witnesses only by the decision of the committee, and not at the desire of a single member, as is the case when the power is not given. All the Committees mentioned have regularly heard evidence in public.
COMMITTEE, STANDING
In the House of Commons the term "standing committee "is usually applied to committees set up to examine in detail all public bills which, after receiving a second reading, are not committed to committees of the whole House, select committees and joint committees; but second reading committees, committees to consider bills on report, the Scottish Grand Committee and the Welsh Grand Committee (all of which are described under separate headings), are in fact standing committees as defined in the standing order. Accordingly while it may be said that the main purpose of standing committees is to enable the committee stage of public bill to be taken otherwise than on the floor of the House, their funstions also extend in certain circumstances to providing alternative methods of debating bills on second reading (second reading committees and the Scottish Grand Committee), and of considering them on report (committees to consider bills on report), to debating estimates (Scottish Grand Committee) and to debating other matters referred to them (Scottish and Welsh Grand Comittees).
The standing order in fact contemplate that other business in addition to public bille should be referred to other standing committees, and in fact certain estimates were so referred in 1919.
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