Business and Trade Select Committee

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The Business and Trade Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Business and Trade, and any departmental bodies.

The committee came into existence as the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee on 1 October 2009, replacing the Business and Enterprise Select Committee, which was dissolved on 30 September 2009. The House of Commons agreed to the committee's establishment on 25 June 2009,[1] following Prime Minister Gordon Brown's replacement of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 5 June 2009. Following the merger of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in July 2016, the name of the committee was changed to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee in October 2016 to reflect the name of the new department.[2]

Membership[edit]

The committee's chair until the 2017 general election was Iain Wright, elected on 18 June 2015. The other members of the committee were formally appointed on 8 July 2015.[2] On 12 July 2017, Rachel Reeves was elected chair of the committee until her elevation to the Shadow Cabinet, when Darren Jones was elected her successor.[3] Following the promotion of Jones to the Shadow Cabinet, Liam Byrne was elected chair.

As of October 2023, the membership is as follows:[4][5][6][7]<[8]


Member Party Constituency
Liam Byrne MP (Chair) MP Labour Birmingham Hodge Hill
Douglas Chapman MP SNP Dunfermline and West Fife
Jonathan Gullis MP Conservative Stoke-on-Trent North
Antony Higginbotham MP Conservative Burnley
Jane Hunt MP Conservative Loughborough
Ian Lavery MP Labour Wansbeck
Anthony Mangnall MP Conservative Totnes
Julie Marson MP Conservative Hertford and Stortford
Andy McDonald MP Independent Middlesbrough
Charlotte Nichols MP Labour Warrington North
Mark Pawsey MP Conservative Rugby

Changes since 2019[edit]

Date Outgoing Member
& Party
Constituency New Member
& Party
Constituency Source
6 May 2020 John Howell MP (Conservative) Henley Paul Howell MP (Conservative) Sedgefield Hansard
7 April 2020 Rachel Reeves MP (Chair, Labour) Leeds West Vacant
6 May 2020 Vacant Darren Jones MP (Chair, Labour) Bristol North West Hansard
11 May 2020 Peter Kyle MP (Labour) Hove Judith Cummins MP (Labour) Bradford South Hansard
Pat McFadden MP (Labour) Wolverhampton South East Ruth Jones MP (Labour) Newport West
Anna McMorrin MP (Labour) Cardiff North Charlotte Nichols MP (Labour) Warrington North
21 September 2020 Ruth Jones MP (Labour) Newport West Zarah Sultana MP (Labour) Coventry South Hansard
22 February 2021 Zarah Sultana MP (Labour) Coventry South Sarah Owen MP (Labour) Luton North Hansard
5 January 2022 Judith Cummins MP (Labour) Bradford South Tonia Antoniazzi MP (Labour) Gower Hansard
Sarah Owen MP (Labour) Luton North Andy McDonald MP (Labour) Middlesbrough
25 October 2022 Richard Fuller MP (Conservative) North East Bedfordshire Bim Afolami MP (Conservative) Hitchin and Harpenden Hansard
Nusrat Ghani MP (Conservative) Wealden Jonathan Djanogly MP (Conservative) Huntingdon
Paul Howell MP (Conservative) Sedgefield Ruth Edwards MP (Conservative) Rushcliffe
Mark Jenkinson MP (Conservative) Workington Robert Largan MP (Conservative) High Peak
1 November 2022 Jonathan Djanogly MP (Conservative) Huntingdon Vacant Hansard
Robert Largan MP (Conservative) High Peak
8 November 2022 Vacant Mark Jenkinson MP (Conservative) Workington Hansard
21 November 2022 Vacant Jane Hunt MP (Conservative) Loughborough Hansard
29 November 2022 Tonia Antoniazzi MP (Labour) Gower Ian Lavery MP (Labour) Wansbeck Hansard
12 June 2023 Ruth Edwards MP (Conservative) Rushcliffe Jonathan Gullis MP (Conservative) Stoke-on-Trent North Hansard
Mark Jenkinson MP (Conservative) Workington Antony Higginbotham MP (Conservative) Burnley
Alexander Stafford MP (Conservative) Rother Valley Anthony Mangnall MP (Conservative) Totnes
4 September 2023 Darren Jones MP (Chair, Labour) Bristol North West Vacant Hansard
12 September 2023 Alan Brown MP (SNP) Kilmarnock and Loudoun Douglas Chapman MP (SNP) Dunfermline and West Fife Hansard
18 October 2023 Vacant Liam Byrne MP (Chair, Labour) Birmingham Hodge Hill Hansard
11 December 2023 Bim Afolami MP (Conservative) Hitchin and Harpenden Julie Marson MP (Conservative) Hertford and Stortford Hansard

2017-2019[edit]

The chair was elected on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.[9][10]

Member Party Constituency
Rachel Reeves MP (Chair) Labour Leeds West
Drew Hendry MP SNP Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Stephen Kerr MP Conservative Stirling
Peter Kyle MP Labour Hove
Ian Liddell-Grainger MP Conservative Bridgwater and West Somerset
Rachel Maclean MP Conservative Redditch
Albert Owen MP Labour Ynys Môn
Mark Pawsey MP Conservative Rugby
Antoinette Sandbach MP Conservative Eddisbury
Anna Turley MP Labour and Co-op Redcar

Changes 2017-2019[edit]

Date Outgoing Member
& Party
Constituency New Member
& Party
Constituency Source
16 October 2017 New seat Vernon Coaker MP (Labour) Gedling Hansard
18 June 2018 Rachel Maclean MP (Conservative) Redditch Patrick McLoughlin MP (Conservative) Derbyshire Dales Hansard

Previous changes[edit]

Occasionally, the House of Commons ordered changes to be made in terms of membership of the select committee, as proposed by the Committee of Selection. Such changes are shown below.

Date Outgoing member
and party
Constituency New member
and party
Constituency Source
2 November 2010 Nicky Morgan MP (Conservative) Loughborough Simon Kirby MP (Conservative) Brighton Kemptown Hansard
Luciana Berger MP (Labour) Liverpool Wavertree Paul Blomfield MP (Labour) Sheffield Central
Jack Dromey MP (Labour) Birmingham Erdington Katy Clark MP (Labour) North Ayrshire and Arran
Chi Onwurah MP (Labour) Newcastle upon Tyne Central Gregg McClymont MP (Labour) Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and
Kirkintilloch East
Rachel Reeves MP (Labour) Leeds West Ian Murray MP (Labour) Edinburgh South
21 March 2011 Gregg McClymont MP (Labour) Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and
Kirkintilloch East
Dan Jarvis MP (Labour) Barnsley Central Hansard
24 October 2011 Dan Jarvis MP (Labour) Barnsley Central Julie Elliott MP (Labour) Sunderland Central Hansard
Ian Murray MP (Labour) Edinburgh South Ann McKechin MP (Labour) Glasgow North
16 July 2012 David Ward MP (Liberal Democrat) Bradford East Mike Crockart MP (Liberal Democrat) Edinburgh West Hansard
5 November 2012 Margot James MP (Conservative) Stourbridge Caroline Dinenage MP (Conservative) Gosport Hansard
Simon Kirby MP (Conservative) Brighton Kemptown Robin Walker MP (Conservative) Worcester

Notable reports[edit]

In July 2022, the committee published its report "Energy pricing and the future of the energy market" which examined the turmoil in retail energy arising from unusually high wholesale gas prices, leading to the collapse of several suppliers and the need for government support of Bulb Energy. The committee found that the industry regulator Ofgem had been incompetent in its supervision of the finances of supplier companies, and that the government overlooked this lack of supervision because it prioritised competition over market regulation. The report also criticised Ofgem's design of the energy price cap, recommending that the government consider introducing a social tariff; stated that the government's May 2022 support package for customers was no longer sufficient; and criticised the absence of a home insulation programme.[11][12]

In response, Ofgem accepted that its previous financial resilience regime was not sufficiently robust, and had contributed to some of the supplier failures since August 2021.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hansard - 25 June 2009: Standing Orders etc. (Machinery of Government Changes)
  2. ^ a b "Membership - Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee". UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  3. ^ "The Guardian view on select committees: Chairs of power | Editorial". The Guardian. 12 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee - Membership". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Committees Volume 723: debated on Tuesday 29 November 2022". committees.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022. That Tonia Antoniazzi be discharged from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and Ian Lavery be added.
  6. ^ "Committees Volume 722: debated on Tuesday 8 November 2022". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022. That Mark Jenkinson be a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
  7. ^ "Committees Volume 737: debated on Tuesday 12 September 2023". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023. That Alan Brown be discharged from the Business and Trade Committee and Douglas Chapman be added.
  8. ^ "Business without Debate Volume 742: debated on Monday 11 December 2023". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Hansard. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023. That Bim Afolami be discharged from the Business and Trade Committee and Julie Marson be added.
  9. ^ "Speaker's Statement: Select Committee Chairs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 627. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 12 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Business without Debate". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 628. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 11 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Energy pricing and the future of the energy market – Report Summary". UK Parliament. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Cost-of-living payments branded insufficient as energy bills soar". BBC News. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Ofgem statement on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee's report on energy pricing and the future of the energy market". Ofgem. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

External links[edit]