Reinventing Parliament: making the Commons more effective part 2 : practical reforms to make the Commons more effective

This chapter reviews a series of practical steps that could be taken to improve the House of Commons' policy influence and effectiveness: giving select committees a pre-legislative role; building up the committees' prestige and independence; giving the select committees policy research staff; and focusing the work of the Public Accounts Committee exclusively on cross-governmental issues and very major policy issues, leaving most of their single-subject reports to be handled by the relevant select committee.