The Senior Deputy Speaker
That the Report from the Select Committee New committee activity in 2026 (5th Report, HL Paper 221) 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: the Autism Act 2009, UK engagement with space, social mobility policy, and home-based working. All those committees have now published their reports, and I look forward to the reports receiving comprehensive government responses shortly. I express my sincere gratitude to all Members who contributed to those inquiries and indeed for all our committee work throughout the year. My thanks go also to the officials who have supported the work of your Lordships’ Select Committees this year.
I turn to the proposed special inquiry committees for the coming year. The Liaison Committee considered 41 suggestions from noble Lords, demonstrating the breadth of interest and expertise across your Lordships’ House. All these 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 a committee:
“Makes best use of the knowledge and experience of Members … Complements the work of existing Select Committees, including Commons departmental select committees … Addresses areas of policy that cross departmental boundaries; and … be capable of being confined to 10 months”.
In addition, as set out in our invitation to Members to submit proposals, the committee took into account broader factors, such as
“the balance of topics across special inquiry committees (including in previous years), the work being conducted by other committees across both Houses, and within Government, and anticipated legislation in the subject area”.
The Liaison Committee decided to propose four special inquiry committees on: childhood vaccination rates, national resilience, numeracy, and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. As is customary, the proposed committees include one post-legislative scrutiny topic and three general special inquiry topics. I trust noble Lords will agree that these recommendations span a diverse range of subjects, offering valuable opportunities to inform debate and influence policy, and indeed make excellent use of Members’ backgrounds and expertise. I beg to move.