Committee News

Welcome to Committee News, the place to find all the latest news and updates from our work on Parliament’s committees.

A committee is a group of people subordinate to an assembly, usually tasked with exploring a matter more fully than the assembly would be able to do on its own. Most assemblies have committees, including legislative bodies, government agencies, professional associations and other organizations. A committee may be permanent or temporary, and its size and type of work vary widely. A person designated as the chair of a committee runs meetings, which can be formal or informal, depending on the nature of the committee. Committees often keep minutes of their meetings, though this is not required.

When a committee has completed its work, it typically provides the results in a report to its parent body. This report may include the methods used, the facts uncovered, and any recommendations. Depending on the type of committee, the parent body may then decide whether to discharge the committee from its work or retain it in order to handle the matter itself.

The Committee on Intelligence and Security is the parliamentary committee with statutory responsibility for overseeing the UK’s intelligence community, comprising MI5, MI6, GCHQ, Defence Intelligence Organisation and the Joint Intelligence Organisation. It also covers the UK’s overseas intelligence and security activities.

The News Committee is an elected committee that represents the news activities of EBU members. It organizes and sets the agenda for the annual News Assembly, where news directors, editors-in-chief and foreign desk editors meet to discuss best practices in delivering quality journalism, reducing costs and implementing new technology. It also supports and promotes dialogue between news directors, managers and other staff of Member organisations in the context of their common mission to serve the public interest by providing trusted and independent information.