Committee Corridor

• The work of the Liaison Committee

  At least three times per year, chairs of select committees question the Prime Minister in a sit-down session lasting 90 minutes. It’s one of the more unusual aspects of the work of the Liaison Committee which helps select committees deliver their roles effectively and keep tabs on government policy.  As Sir Keir Starmer MP prepares to face the Committee on 8 April 2025, the Chair of the Liaison Committee, Dame Meg Hillier MP, speaks to Dr Hannah White, the Director of the Institute for Government, an independent thinktank which works to make government more effective. They consider the role of the Liaison Committee – who’s involved, what it does and why its backbench MPs have more access to the PM than any other part of Parliament.   What question would you put to the Prime Minister? When the UK’s Youth Parliament took their seats in the House of Commons chamber recently, Committee Corridor caught up with four members from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We wanted their take on the issues which matter most to them – and will put one of their questions directly to Sir Keir Starmer on 8 April.  In the last Parliament, the Liaison Committee was chaired by Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex. Its final task was to publish a report on strategic thinking in Government which included powerful evidence about the need to include young people’s voices and interests in decision-making.   Among the topics debated by the Youth Parliament was free public transport for young people. Dame Meg Hillier speaks to the Chair of the Transport Committee, Ruth Cadbury (Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth) about the evidence it’s been hearing on the impact of poor bus services on young people as part of their buses connecting communities' inquiry.   Want to know more about the buses connecting communities' inquiry, take a look at our website https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8619/buses-connecting-communities/  Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review and click ‘follow’ on Apple and Spotify to be the first to get new episodes as they drop.  Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukcommonscommittees/  We’re on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/house-of-commons-committees/ 

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• Women in the armed forces: What difference did select committees make?

  Are the women who protect us adequately protected? And who should be held accountable if they aren’t? In 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a landmark report finding the Ministry of Defence and Services to have failed in helping female personnel achieve their full potential. The report called on military chiefs and Government to act on the harassment, bullying and discrimination suffered by women in the armed forces. Since then, how far have we come?  In the first episode of Committee Corridor’s brand-new season, Chair of the Liaison and Treasury Committees, Dame Meg Hillier MP, reflects on the impact of the Defence Committee’s report. We talk to inquiry Chairs from the committee past- Conservative Sarah Atherton MP- and present- Labour’s Tan Dhesi MP, as well as witness and Director of the Centre for Military Justice, Emma Norton.  We’re also joined by Liberal Democrat MP Steff Aquarone and Labour MP Natasha Irons, who- as well as being new to select committees - became members of Parliament for the first time in July. Natasha and Steff discuss their impressions of joining select committees and hopes for the new Parliament.  We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:  Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email [email protected] Refuge: free, 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline: Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk) Rape Crisis England and Wales: Want to talk? | Rape Crisis England & Wales Support from women's aid: Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk) Respect: Men's advice line Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men | Men's Advice Line UK (mensadviceline.org.uk) For more information about Salute Her UK: https://www.saluteher.co.uk/  If you’d like to find out more about the Defence Committee’s Women in the Armed Forces inquiry, you can read the full report here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmdfence/904/report.html?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=podcast_season_five&utm_id=podcast_shownotes&utm_content=podcast_episode_one  Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review and click ‘follow’ on Apple and Spotify to be the first to get new episodes as they drop.  Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukcommonscommittees/  We’re on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/house-of-commons-committees/  

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• Series 5 Teaser

  We’re back!Welcome to series 5 of Committee Corridor, the podcast where Members of the UK Parliament’s select committees come together to unpack the issues that affect millions of lives in the UK every day.The first two episodes will be hosted by Dame Meg Hillier, the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and Chair of the Treasury Committee and the Liaison Committee. We'll be looking at committee impact - past, present and future - as we hear the first impressions of new MPs who have joined select committees.In the following episode, we'll explore the work of the Liaison Committee, including sessions with the Prime Minister. What would you ask him? After Easter, we’ll be returning with episodes that put the spotlight on understanding the biggest issues of the day for the UK’s green agenda. Join us this spring on Committee Corridor - coming to you from the heart of Westminster, and exploring the issues that affect you most. To whet your appetite, here's a snapshot of past series.Subscribe, listen and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

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• Violence against Women and Girls

  Prevention, education and safeguarding: culture change at every level will be crucial to how we tackle violence against women and girls. In the final podcast of this season’s Committee Corridor, host Caroline Nokes MP hears from three women who have taken part in select committee inquiries which consider different aspects of violence against women and girls.  The term “violence against women and girls” is used to describe a wide range of abuses, from harassment in work and public life to domestic abuse, sexual assault and the most serious offences. Andrea Simon, the Director of End Violence Against Women Coalition; Dawn Dines, founder of Stamp out Spiking, and Carolyn Harris MP, a member of the Home Affairs and Women and Equalities Committees, explore the interventions which are required to confront behaviour which normalises violence against women and girls. The podcast includes content on sexual harassment and violence in schools, spiking, stealthing and discussion of the investigation and prosecution of rape.  Ending violence against women and girls “is everyone’s business”, Andrea tells Caroline. “We know that ultimately, we live in a world that unless we address those underlying causes and excuses for violence against women, we won't be able to create the change that we need to see.”   Your host, for the final time in this series, is Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and the Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North.    We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:   Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email [email protected] Refuge: free, 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline: Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk) Rape Crisis England and Wales: Want to talk? | Rape Crisis England & Wales Support from women's aid: Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk) Respect: Men's advice line Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men | Men's Advice Line UK (mensadviceline.org.uk) We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠⁠.

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• What happens to Parliamentary petitions?

  Around a quarter of the UK's adult population have signed a petition to Parliament. It's one of the ways that UK residents can alert members of Parliament to concerns that matter to them and make their voices heard. Petitions to the UK Parliament e-petition site ask for a change to the law or to policy. Since launching eight years ago, more than 30,000 petitions have been created, attracting more than 110 million signatures – and 350 of them have been debated by MPs.  Today, podcast host Catherine McKinnell MP, unwraps how the process works and ask how petitions can make a difference, through the experience of Andy Airey. Andy is one third of ‘Three Dads Walking’ who petitioned Parliament to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum. Andy's daughter Sophie took her own life in 2018, aged 29. He campaigns alongside Mike Palmer and Tim Owen, who lost their daughters, Beth and Emily, at the ages of 17 and 19. They are joined by Nick Fletcher, the member of the Petitions Committee who opened the debate in the House of Commons. Nick is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Don Valley.  A Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds, Cristina Leston-Bandeira works on how Parliaments engage the public, particularly through petitions. She sets out why petitions are important and how the UK compares to other countries and legislatures. Your host, for the final time in this series, is Catherine McKinnell, the Chair of the Petitions Committee at the House of Commons and Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠.

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