ABSTRACT
The inquiries undertaken by select committees are both broad ranging and in depth. It is entirely a matter for the committee to determine what subject to investigate and, accordingly, every aspect of government administration is potentially susceptible to inquiry. In the past, for example, select committees have inquired into the conduct of the Falklands War24 and the banning of trade union membership at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ).25 The committees have investigated such matters as the Westland Helicopter affair; Arms to Iraq; salmonella in eggs; and the loss of the Maxwell pension funds, on which see further below. The wide ranging nature of inquiries undertaken is illustrated in the subject matter chosen by the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2002-03:
It has been seen above that committees have the power to send for ‘persons and papers’. The work of select committees would be much impaired if the committee was obstructed in its attempt to gain access to evidence. The Select Committee on Procedure had suggested, inter alia, that there should be power to compel ministers to attend and to give evidence. That recommendation was rejected by the government, on the basis that select committees should not have power to issue orders to ministers – such a power lay with the House alone. Accordingly, there is no formal requirement that the government co-operate with select committees. However, the Leader of the House has undertaken that:
... every Minister, from the most senior Cabinet Minister to the most junior Under Secretary, will do all in his or her power to co-operate with the new system of committees and to make it a success.27
