You can find out more about the roles and responsibilities of Departmental Selct Committies by visiting the Parliament website…
What is a Select Committee?
Further Info
You can find out more about the Science and Technology Committee by visiting our website…
The Committee
The Science and Technology Committee is a Departmental Select Committee.
It has 11 Members which reflect the composition of the House: 7 Labour, 3 Conservative and 1 Liberal Democrat. It is chaired by Dr Ian Gibson, the Labour MP for Norwich North. The Committee is supported by a secretariat of 5, employed by the House of Commons.
Some of the Members have a background in science and technology but this is not a requirement. It generally meets once a week while Parliament is sitting.
The Committee has two main parts of its work: the scrutiny of its department – the Office of Science and Technology (including the Research Councils); and the use of science and technology in other Departments. It conducts its work through inquiries. Typically, the Committee, having decided on an inquiry, publishes its terms of reference and issues a call for written evidence. It then draws up a programme of oral evidence sessions. The final report is largely based on the oral and written evidence it receives.