Liaison Committee
The Senior Deputy Speaker
That the Report from the Select Committee New committee activity in 2025 (3rd Report, HL Paper 56) be agreed to.
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, at the start of this year, the House appointed four special inquiry committees on, respectively, the Modern Slavery Act 2015, preterm birth, statutory inquiries, and food, diet and obesity. All those committees have now published their reports. I give my considerable thanks to all Members who contributed to those inquiries and indeed to all our committee work during the year, particularly in light of the timetable changes due to the general election. I take this opportunity to place on record my considerable thanks—and, I believe, those on behalf of the House—to all officials who have supported the work of your Lordships’ Select Committees this year.
I turn to the proposed special inquiry committees for next year. The Liaison Committee received 45 high- quality suggestions from noble Lords, a record number of proposals, which illustrates well the range of interests and expertise across your Lordships’ House. All the proposals have been published on the committee’s website.
As ever, the Liaison Committee faced a difficult task. We assessed the proposals against our published criteria, which are that the committee should make best use of the knowledge and experience of Members, complement the work of existing Select Committees, including Commons departmental Select Committees, address areas of policy that cross departmental boundaries and be capable of being completed within 10 months. We also took into account wider factors, such as the overall balance of topics selected and work being undertaken by other committees and within government.
As our report sets out, we decided to propose four special inquiry committees on: home-based working, social mobility policy, UK engagement with space, and the Autism Act 2009. As is often the case, the proposed committee includes one post-legislative scrutiny topic and three general special inquiry topics. I hope noble Lords agree that the committee’s recommendations cover a wide range of subjects that will make a significant contribution to debate and policy-making and will make excellent use of Members’ backgrounds and expertise. I beg to move.