Grand Committees in United Kingdom

Definition of Grand Committees, Scottish And Welsh Scottish And Welsh Grand Committees

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Grand Committees, Scottish And Welsh Scottish And Welsh Grand Committees : Committees of the House of Commons involved with matters relating to Scotland and Wales, respectively. The former consists of the 72 members representing Scottish constituencies and 10-15 other members. A Bill certified by the Speaker as relating exclusively to Scotland may by standing orders of the House be referred to the Committee for its second reading, and the Committee also debates other purely Scottish matters. The Welsh Grand Committee, which consists of the 38 members representing Welsh constituencies and up to 5 others, is purely deliberative. It considers matters relating exclusively to Wales but is not empowered to undertake second readings.

Grand Committees Meaning, as used in the UK Parliament

In the House of Commons, Grand Committees are a forum for all the Members of the Parliament who represent a particular nation within the UK to meet together and consider matters that relate only to Wales or only to Scotland or Northern Ireland. Since 2015, Legislative Grand Committees for English or English and Welsh only Members of the Parliament have also been used under the ‘English votes for English laws’ procedures.

In the House of Lords a Grand Committee has an unlimited membership and considers the committee stage of a Bill away from the Floor of the House. Any Bill may be sent to a Grand Committee and the proceedings are identical to those in a Committee of the Whole House except that no votes may take place.