Parliamentary committees
Parliamentary committees - paragraph completion
3 paragraphs argue one side. You write the rebuttal and the interim judgement.
How this works. Each pre-written opening argues one side of the theme. Your job is the rebuttal: answer it with the named cases, then end on an interim judgement. Your writing saves on this device.
Paragraph 1 · theme: Expertise and evidence
Evaluate the view that parliamentary committees are an effective check on government.
The opening (given) - rebut this
Expertise and evidence is often used to argue the view. Public Bill Committees: Reconstituted for each bill - no standing expertise builds up. Backbench Business Committee: Schedules debates rather than conducting inquiries. Read alone, these make the case look one-sided.
Your task - write the rebuttal
Answer back using the cases that point the other way: Lords committees (Former ministers, scientists and judges - the deepest subject expertise in Parliament.); Select committees (Members build subject knowledge across a parliament; evidence is taken on the record.); Public Accounts Committee (Works with the National Audit Office on value-for-money evidence.). Finish with an interim judgement that backs your line of argument.
Paragraph 2 · theme: Forces a response
Evaluate the view that parliamentary committees are an effective check on government.
The opening (given) - rebut this
Forces a response is often used to argue the view. Public Bill Committees: No report-and-response cycle; amendments are simply voted on. Backbench Business Committee: Backbench motions do not bind the government. Read alone, these make the case look one-sided.
Your task - write the rebuttal
Answer back using the cases that point the other way: Liaison Committee (The Prime Minister attends - the only committee that questions the PM directly.); Select committees (Government responds to reports - the convention is within 60 days.); Lords committees (Government responds to Lords reports as it does to Commons ones.). Finish with an interim judgement that backs your line of argument.
Paragraph 3 · theme: Media profile
Evaluate the view that parliamentary committees are an effective check on government.
The opening (given) - rebut this
Media profile is often used to argue the view. Public Bill Committees: Line-by-line scrutiny attracts almost no coverage. Lords committees: Rarely covered. Read alone, these make the case look one-sided.
Your task - write the rebuttal
Answer back using the cases that point the other way: Select committees (Windrush (Home Affairs) and the mini-budget hearings (Treasury, October 2022) led the news.); Liaison Committee (The 2024 questioning of Sunak on Rwanda was widely covered.); Backbench Business Committee (The 2011 Hillsborough debate showed real agenda power.). Finish with an interim judgement that backs your line of argument.