WHAT DO COMMITTEES DO?

Committees of ten to fifty MPs or Lords undertake much of the work of both Houses of Parliaments. Committees examine a wide range of issues, including the work of Government Departments, Government policy and proposed new legislation.

Select Committees work in both the Commons and Lords, examining and reporting on the work of Government Departments (Commons) and on specific topics (Lords).

Commons Select Committees are involved in looking at the policy, finances and administration of Government Departments. They gather evidence from written documents and by interviewing appropriate individuals. These are then published in reports, along with recommendations to the Government. Other Committees deal with inter-departmental issues, as well as matters concerning the House of Commons and individual MPs.

There are permanent Lords Select Committees which look at the specialist subjects of constitution, economics, science and Europe. Other committees are assembled in the Lords for particular subjects as and when the need arises.

There are also Joint Committees, which are made up of both MPs and Lords, such as the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which is a permanent committee, and temporary committees set up to examine draft Bills.

General Committees - which were called Standing Committees until recently - are only found in the Commons and they look at legislation. There is a committee for each Bill that is going through Parliament and the committee is named after the Bill in question.

Public Bill Committees must have at least sixteen members, who are appointed in proportion to the MPs in the House of Commons, so a Government majority is guaranteed. The Bill Committee examines each clause of a Bill, produces a report and may recommend amendments.

committees

Daniel has sat on various Parliamentary Committees since he became an MP in 2005, including the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, which was central to developing his close involvement in farming issues.

He is currently a member of the International Development Select Committee, as well as being a member of the Shadow Foreign Affairs team.

all party parliamentary groups

Daniel belongs to various All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) which are groups of MPs (and Lords) who have an interest in particular topics. Many of the APPGs are in connection with particular foreign countries or regions of the world and Daniel is involved with several of these, given that he is a member of the Shadow Foreign Affairs Team and has a strong personal interest in international politics.

Daniel is an office holder in the following APPGs (the official purpose of the Group is given in brackets).

• Dairy Farmers (chair) (to raise the profile of British dairy farmers to allow them to make a sustainable living)
• Justice for Equitable Life Policy Holders (chair) (to provide a cross-party forum in which to hold the government to account on the issue of properly compensating Equitable Life policy holders)
• Libya (chair) (to promote and to understand the culture, history and politics of Libya. To engage in legislature-to-legislature relations with the country)
• Saudi Arabia (chair) (to encourage and develop diplomatic, cultural and social exchanges between the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom with the aim of achieving greater understanding and fostering mutual respect)
• First Past the Post (co chair) (to provide a forum for the discussion and promotion of electoral stability and fairness under the first past the post system)
• Poland (treasurer) (to develop links between Poland and the United Kingdom, in particular between Members of Parliament in the two countries)
• Kuwait (secretary) (to enhance relations between the British and Kuwait parliaments; to encourage close bi-lateral relations; and to facilitate meetings and visits)
• Netherlands (secretary) (to promote good relations between the parliaments and peoples of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands)

Each Group is required to publish a list of its officers (chair, treasurer and secretary) and twenty other 'qualifying members'. Daniel is one of these 'qualifying members' of several other APPGs: click here to see a list of these Groups.

WHAT IS AN ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP?

All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal groups run by and for MPs and Lords that have no official status within Parliament, but allow a wide range of topics to be addressed by MPs and Lords who are interested. Activities of APPGs include lobbying, research, discussions and dissemination of relevant information.

APPGs must be cross-party and there is a register kept of groups which are recognised by Parliament. The register shows who the officers and key supporting MPs and Peers of each group are, and what support they receive from outside of Parliament.