Wollaston elected to chair Health Committee
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 23 June 2015 07:25
- Written by News Editor
- Hits: 3142
Dr Sarah Wollaston MP has been re-elected as chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee. She received 532 votes on the first ballot against David Tredinnick MP who received 64. She has been chair of the committee since 2013, when she succeeded form Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell.
The remaining members of the Committee will be nominated by the House of Commons in the coming weeks and will reflect the party make-up following the General Election. Although it heard evidence in the last session from the General Dental Council and about child oral health, it is a new committee and is not bound by any decisions in the 2010-15 Parliament.
From its website (http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/):
‘The Health Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department of Health and its associated bodies. The Committee chooses its own subjects of inquiry. Depending on the subject, external deadlines, and the amount of oral evidence the Committee decides to take, an inquiry may last for several months and give rise to a report to the House; other inquiries may simply consist of a single day's oral evidence which the Committee may publish without making a report.
‘When the Committee has chosen an inquiry it normally issues a press notice outlining the main themes of the inquiry and inviting interested parties to submit written evidence. It may also identify possible witnesses and issue specific invitations to them to submit written evidence.
‘The House has given the Committee the power to send for “persons, papers and records”. It therefore has powers to insist upon the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers and other material. These formal powers are rarely used.’
You need to be logged in to leave comments.
Report