How are House of Commons Select Committees created?

Publications / Guides

How are Select Committees created in the House of Commons?

Committee corridor, House of Commons. ©House of Commons/Jessica Taylor

House of Commons Select Committees are created by Standing Orders of the House. This means that in order to establish Select Committees, or make changes to their line-up, the House must agree a motion to amend Standing Orders.

In theory, a motion to amend Standing Orders could be moved by any MP who has the opportunity to put a substantive motion before the House for decision. For example, Labour used an Opposition Day in January 2023 to move a motion to establish a ‘Fair Taxation of Schools and Education Standards Committee’.

However, as long as the Government commands a majority in the House of Commons, there is no prospect of the House agreeing any motion to amend Standing Orders which the Government does not support. In practice, therefore, outside situations of minority Government, Select Committees are created and their line-up changed only by Government motions. Such motions are normally tabled by the Leader of the House. They may be moved at any point during a Parliament (with notice), and are amendable.

The House is most likely to create a Select Committee after a new Department has been created in a machinery-of-government change. Such changes are themselves most likely to take place after a General Election or change of Prime Minister.

What decisions are involved in creating a new Select Committee?

To create a new Select Committee, a number of decisions must be made about its features. These features must be specified in the relevant Standing Order. They include:

Permanent or temporary?

Unless otherwise specified, a Select Committee is established as a permanent body of the House, which will exist indefinitely unless and until Standing Orders are amended again to abolish it.

However, sometimes the House establishes a Select Committee for only a specified period. This might be because it wants to trial a new Committee before establishing it on a permanent basis (as occurred with the Women and Equalities Committee, which was originally created in 2015 for one Parliament only), or because the Committee’s task is time-limited (as occurred with the Exiting the European Union Committee, and its successor, the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union, both of which existed under a succession of time-limited Orders).

A time-limited Select Committee may be established by a Temporary Standing Order. These are published at the end of the list of regular Standing Orders.

How many Members?

Most House of Commons Select Committees have 11 Members but the House sometimes provides for a larger membership, to allow representation of small parties or a wider-than-usual range of opinion. (This occurred with the Exiting the European Union Committee, for example, which was established in October 2016 with 21 Members.)

What remit and powers?

The relevant Standing Order must specify what the House wishes the Select Committee to do and what powers it grants it to carry out its task(s).

Chair elected by the whole House or by the Committee?

Since 2010, most House of Commons Select Committees have Chairs who are elected by the whole House. A smaller number of Select Committees continue to choose their own Chairs. A Standing Order (No. 122B) lists most of the Committees which have Chairs elected by the whole House. When the House establishes a new Select Committee, therefore, it must decide whether to add it to this list or otherwise provide that its Chair is to be elected.

To make it more straightforward to use and amend Standing Orders, the departmental Select Committees (DSCs) – which scrutinise Government Departments – are created and listed together in Standing Order No. 152, and then treated and referred to elsewhere as a single group. For example, all the DSCs have Chairs who are elected by the whole House, so the list of Select Committees with Chairs who are so elected (in Standing Order No. 122B) includes as a single item all the Select Committees appointed under Standing Order No. 152.

Last updated and citation

Last updated

13:00, 24 April 2023

Cite as

Hansard Society (2023), How are Select Committees created in the House of Commons? (Hansard Society: London)

Latest / Highlights

News / Parliament Matters Bulletin: What’s coming up in Parliament this week? 13-14 May 2026

Parliament returns on Wednesday with the State Opening and the King’s Speech marking the start of a new parliamentary session. Many traditions will be observed, including presentation of the Outlawries Bill and the Select Vestries Bill and an order instructing the Metropolitan Police to prevent “stoppages in the street”. In the Commons, the Speaker will remind MPs of their duties and responsibilities, before debate begins on the Loyal Address. The Education Committee will take evidence on the benefits of children reading for pleasure, and the Home Affairs Committee will consider responses to antisemitism.

Briefings / The assisted dying bill: How could the Parliament Act be used?

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – the bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales – fell at the close of the 2024-2026 parliamentary session, after running out of time in the House of Lords. Attention has now shifted to whether the bill could return in the next session and, if so, whether it could be enacted using the procedures set out in the Parliament Act. This briefing explains the Parliament Act procedure, examines previous uses of the Act and the procedural lessons that may be drawn from them, and looks at the constitutional issues involved.

News / What now? The local election fallout hits Westminster - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 141

Labour’s disastrous local election results have intensified speculation about Keir Starmer’s future. But if pressure on the leadership continues to grow, how exactly do Labour’s leadership rules work – and what would it take to mount a serious challenge? Now that the Scottish and Welsh elections are over, attention will turn to governing. How do the devolved parliaments return to business? And in Wales, where the Senedd will install a non-Labour First Minister and government for the first time in its history, how will the process work? Could a new administration trigger fresh tensions with Westminster and Whitehall? Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Acast · YouTube · Other apps · RSS

News / Dynamic alignment and Henry VIII powers: What will the Government’s EU reset mean for Parliament? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 139

A major “EU reset” bill could allow Ministers to dynamically align UK law with EU rules using so-called Henry VIII powers, raising fresh questions about Parliament’s role and scrutiny. We are joined by Professor Catherine Barnard to explore the trade-offs and implications. We also examine Parliament’s surprise block on Church of England governance reforms and ask whether shutting down Parliament for a two-week prorogation – when it cannot be recalled – is wise in an increasingly unstable world. Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Acast · YouTube · Other apps · RSS

Submissions / Written Parliamentary Questions - Our evidence to the House of Commons Procedure Committee

The use of Written Parliamentary Questions (WPQs) is rising sharply. Since July 2024, MPs have tabled questions at unprecedented levels. By late 2025 MPs were tabling over 600 per sitting day, more than double the long-term average. WPQs are a cornerstone of parliamentary scrutiny, helping MPs obtain information, challenge government policy and put issues on the public record. But this surge raises important questions about how Parliament balances transparency and accountability with the practical limits of the system. The House of Commons Procedure Committee is now examining the issue and has just published our submission containing our latest data and analysis.