New inquiry on the work of The Communities and Local Government select committee

The Communities and Local Government select committee have recently announced an inquiry focused on examining the work of the Committee since 2010 quite broadly, but includes scope to consider submissions focusing on how the Committee itself engages with and uses evidence as part of its work. The four main areas of the inquiry are listed below:

1. How the Committee has carried out its work since 2010, particularly in scrutinising and reporting on the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), its agencies and local government. As well as the subjects scrutinised, the Committee is happy to receive submissions reflecting on the approaches and techniques used by the Committee for identifying, collecting and analysing evidence and publicising its activities, and on the perceived impact of its recommendations.
2. How could local government and those providing local services have been scrutinised more effectively?
3. What changes and challenges can be expected from 2015, which may affect the work of the select committee scrutinising DCLG and local government?
4. How the Committee has handled and weighed up evidence. The Committee wants to reflect on the types of evidence it has used as part of its work and how this evidence has been examined. One question is whether there could be greater scope to use and test research evidence—for example, where an inquiry could be informed by social science research—and if so, how this might be best incorporated into the ways in which the Committee works.

Submissions to this inquiry can be made using the online portal. The deadline for submissions will be 5pm on 12 January 2015.