If Parliament is to be truly effective, committees must become more powerful and independent

The House of Commons has long come under criticism for its fiery, partisan nature, but not many people realise that this point-scoring approach is not limited to the House of Commons chamber, and actually characterises much of its committee work, even when legislative scrutiny is involved. Camilla Hagelund and Jonathan Goddard present research from a new report which shows that select committees should be empowered to carry out bill scrutiny, and that their independence should be increased to improve their effectiveness, and bring about more consensual law-making.