Royal Commissions, Committees of Inquiry and Tribunals

Abstract

The public investigation of problems can take a number of forms — Royal Commissions, Tribunals, ad hoc departmental Committees and special parliamentary conferences or committees. This chapter does not deal with purely parliamentary bodies such as the Speaker’s Conferences (on Electoral Reform — see p.258, and on Devolution see p.470) or like the Select Committees set up from time to time by the House of Commons and/or the House of Lords. But there is an attempt at an exhaustive listing of all domestic Royal Commissions and of all Tribunals of Inquiry appointed under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, 1921. There is also an arbitrary selection from the 1,000 or so ad hoc and statutory Committees of Inquiry appointed since 1900. It is, however, important to remember that the decision whether to refer a problem to a Royal Commission or a Committee is not necessarily determined by the importance of the subject. Royal Commissions are listed fully here because the number is not excessive. Departmental Committees, which have been much more numerous, often deal with relatively narrow and limited matters; the selection here covers only a few which seem plainly to be as important as the average Royal Commission. No reference is made to the committees and sub-committees appointed by Royal Commissions and by standing governmental advisory bodies, though these include some reports of importance, such as the Report to the Central Advisory Council on Education by Lady Plowden’s Committee on Primary Education (1967).