How grand is a Grand Committee?

Written by David Heath MP and published in Somerset Standard on Fri 11th Sep 2009

"Grand Committee" has a faintly Ruritanian ring. It's a committee made up of all the MPs elected from a particular region or nation. Up until now, we've had one for Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland, but never for parts of England. Last week we had the first one for the south west, in Exeter.

A meeting comprising every MP elected for a region could be useful. But don't hold your breath. Yet again, political management is the name of the game. Ministers announced when and where each committee would meet to their own convenience, without consulting at all with other parties. They decided, again without consultation, what should be discussed, and even when each meeting should end.

Of the fifty members in the region, only nineteen turned up. We learnt that the Minister for the South West, former Mayor of Frome Jim Knight, reckons he spends a third of his time in that role, (which may come as a surprise to those who might have thought that being Minister of State for Employment was a pretty full time job at the moment), but doesn't have any power to take any decisions.

So, useful? Only if we decide for ourselves our priorities, ensure every MP has the chance to contribute, and make sure the right ministers are there, those who take decisions about local policies. And it would help if MPs who are elected to represent their constituents took an interest as well.