Public Services & Delivery
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The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee scrutinises the UK's public governance, ethics and standards frameworks across government and public bodies. Operating as a Commons select committee, it conducts investigations through oral evidence sessions with ministers, officials and external experts. The committee has recently examined the ethics and standards landscape with Cabinet Office panels, investigating how standards are upheld across public administration. It has also scrutinised the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's performance and reform agenda, and overseen implementation of recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry into historical NHS failures. The committee's current work includes assessing the reform of Arms Length Bodies under previous government policy, and evaluating whether local government standards codes have adequate enforcement mechanisms through engagement with the Local Government Association and other representative bodies.
27 sessions published in the last 12 months · busiest week: w/c 8 Sept (2 sessions)
Click any cell in the heatmap to see the sessions held that day and the insights extracted from them.
390 insights
30 Jun 2026
The Committee scrutinised Sir Brian Langstaff and Jenni Richards KC on how public inquiries should be initiated, structured, and followed through, using the infected blood inquiry as the main case study. The witnesses argued that inquiry design must depend on subject matter, but that serious harm, unanswered how-and-why questions, and public concern can justify an inquiry. They strongly backed a formal role for PACAC to scrutinise ministerial refusals to hold inquiries and, more importantly, to monitor implementation of recommendations, with transparency, timelines, and public reporting. They also stressed that victims and survivors should be involved early, that central Government should be more transparent and less defensive, and that the Scottish oversight and assurance group offers a useful model for tracking recommendations.
24 Jun 2026
The committee scrutinised Fiona Cannon OBE, the Government’s preferred candidate for Commissioner for Public Appointments, on how she would improve the public appointments system. The hearing focused on timeliness, transparency, candidate experience, vetting confidentiality, widening the pool of applicants, and strengthening diversity data. Cannon argued for a more visible, better-informed process with earlier intervention on delays, stronger communication, and broader outreach, while committing to a close working relationship with the committee and an update within three months of taking office if appointed.
16 Jun 2026
The Committee scrutinised Lord Norton’s evidence on how Parliament should improve the setting-up, conduct and post-report monitoring of public inquiries, using the infected blood context as the prompt. He argued strongly for flexibility between statutory and non-statutory inquiries, clear criteria for deciding when an inquiry is warranted, stronger victim/survivor involvement, indicative timetables, interim reports and more guidance for chairs. The central policy case was for a dedicated parliamentary committee—ideally joint—capable of tracking whether inquiry recommendations are actually implemented, identifying common themes across inquiries, and sustaining public trust. Lord Norton said the Government had positively accepted many of his Committee’s recommendations, had introduced a tracker and was still “considering” wider reforms, but gave no substantive new reform proposals.
15 Jun 2026
The Committee scrutinised Dame Antonia Romeo’s early priorities as Head of the Civil Service and Cabinet Secretary: speeding up Cabinet Office decision-making, clarifying collective agreement, improving accountability, and reforming the civil service through a new national school of government, refreshed code and Cabinet manual. A major theme was AI-driven transformation of the civil service, including upskilling, workflow redesign, measurement of productivity gains and data-sharing across Whitehall. The Committee also pressed her on ministerial-code compliance, non-corporate communications and records, arm’s-length bodies, civil service pay and expertise, devolution, and whether the current constitutional system has enough safeguards beyond “good chaps” conventions. Dame Antonia confirmed plans to update the ministerial code, Cabinet manual and civil service code, to launch reviews into non-corporate communications and wider civil-service governance, and said the defence investment plan would be published with funding before the NATO summit.
02 Jun 2026
The Committee scrutinised the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s decision to lay special reports before Parliament on the Charity Commission cases, and the Charity Commission’s disputed understanding of the PHSO’s remit, jurisdiction and compliance expectations. Witnesses from both bodies said the relationship had improved and that an MOU and joint scenario work were under way, but the Committee pressed the PHSO on whether complainants were caught in the crossfire and pressed the Charity Commission on its legal advice, its decision to seek judicial review, and why safeguarding and disqualification decisions were handled so conservatively. The Charity Commission accepted it was not proud of its conduct, apologised to the complainants, and said it had learned lessons, while also arguing that statutory powers and resources are misaligned and that Government must address legislative and regulatory gaps.
21 Apr 2026
This session of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee scrutinised the UK standards system, focusing on the consolidation of ethics governance, the role and powers of the new Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC), and government plans to drive cultural change in public life. Key government commitments include expanding the remit of the Ethics and Integrity Commission (by folding in the CSPL with expanded powers), issuing annual reports and engaging publicly on standards, and responding to EIC outputs within a six-week window (and in autumn for EIC recommendations). The witnesses highlighted practical steps such as maintaining ministerial accountability, introducing the duty of candour legislation, pursuing further legislation on the Lords and on ministerial/peerage issues, accelerating public appointments (with a new digital tracking system), and addressing lobbying regulation. The debate also raised concerns about unintended consequences of past legislation (e.g., lobbying and VAT rules), the complexity of local-government standards, and the need for cross-party consensus. Overall, the committee pressed for a living, breathing standards framework anchored in Nolan principles, with cross-cutting reforms spanning lobbying, peerages, public appointments, and local authorities, alongside stronger enforcement mechanisms and clearer legislative footing where appropriate.
15 Jun 2026