What is a ‘Select Committee’?
- Select Committees have an important role to play in both the House of Commons, and the House of Lords.
- In the House of Commons, there is a Select Committee for every Government Department, to examine aspects such as: spending, policies and administration.
- Departmental Committees are Cross-Party and comprised of eleven members.
- Committee membership reflects the balance of seats held by each party in the House of Commons.
What does the Women & Equalities Select Committee do?
- The Women and Equalities Select Committee examines the work of the Government Equalities Office (GEO) – working to hold the Government to account on equality law and policy (including the Equality Act 2010), as well as cross-Government activity on equalities. More broadly, it also scrutinises the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Philip’s Membership:
Philip first became a member of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in December 2016 and served on the committee in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. As of June 2021, Philip has re-joined the Select Committee.
Current Committee Enquiries:
The Committee currently has nine outstanding enquiries in progress:
- ‘Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body image’
- ‘Unequal Impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services’
- ‘Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact’
- ‘Unequal impact? Coronavirus and BAME people’
- ‘Reform of the Gender Recognition Act’
- ‘The role of the GEO: embedding equalities across Government’
- ‘Gender Sensitive Parliament’
- ‘The Rights of Cohabiting Partners’
- ‘Equality and the UK asylum process’
