Apathy from select committees

Andrew Blick (London, Houses of Parliament): Parliament has before it a potentially historic constitutional reform programme in the form of the Prime Minister's Green Paper, as well as a draft Queen's Speech. But it seems to be becoming less historic by the month. With all the talk about a re-invigorated parliament demonstrating its 'independence' from the executive you might have thought MPs from all parties would be eager to start scrutinising the proposals. Think again: it's holiday time! Ten weeks of recess means it will be out of action for 20 per cent of the year, until late Autumn (8 October to be precise). But there is no technical obstacle to select committees holding evidence sessions in September. Instead, the Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee and House of Lords Constitution Committee have both issued special reports about Brown's Green Paper. The main body of the Commons report is one single page. It provides such insights as: 'We look forward, in cooperation with colleagues on other Committees, to playing a full role in taking forward consideration of the proposed constitutional reforms'. The Lords Committee on the other hand have produced a document nearly twice as long which tells us that they will 'invite Jack Straw MP...to appear before our Committee in the Autumn'. That is, after 8 October - in case you were concerned that our non-elected representatives might prove more assiduous than our elected ones.