Public Services Committee

Scrutiny of public services delivery across health, medicines, and criminal justice falls within the remit of this House of Lords select committee. The committee operates in the Upper House, taking oral evidence from ministers, NHS leaders, industry representatives, and other expert witnesses to examine policy and operational performance. Its inquiries run across multiple policy areas concurrently, allowing comparative assessment of systemic pressures and resilience. The committee has pursued an extended inquiry into ambulance service capacity and emergency department pressures, hearing evidence on how urgent and emergency care systems manage patient flow and the role of ambulance services in wider NHS resilience during 2026. Separately, it has investigated medicines supply resilience across a series of sessions examining industry perspectives, NHS England operational readiness, and Department of Health and Social Care policy, with witnesses including DHSC officials and industry representatives throughout late 2025. Most recently, the committee has also examined the intersection of policing, courts, technology and artificial intelligence, reflecting its broad oversight of public services beyond health.