Large Print - 1st Report - Acting Select Committee Chairs

Key findings

• Eligibility for chair leave mirrors proxy voting criteria: childbirth, infant care, pregnancy/miscarriage complications, serious long-term illness/injury, and risk-based parliamentary exclusion.
• Acting chairs must be committee members; for whole-House-elected committees, acting chairs should normally be from the same party as the incumbent unless compelling reasons exist.
• Leave periods must be continuous, minimum one month, maximum seven months (extendable with Liaison Committee chair approval); chairs may return early with five sitting days' notice.
• Both incumbent and acting chairs receive salary: incumbents continue full pay; acting chairs receive pro rata payment aligned to select committee chair salary (£19,763 as of April 2026).
• Acting chairs automatically exercise all delegated powers of the chair and sit on the Liaison Committee; removal requires ten sitting days' notice and a motion of no confidence with cross-party support.

Recommendations

• A select committee chair with approved proxy vote may take continuous leave of 1–7 months (extendable with Liaison Committee and committee consent).
• Acting chairs must be committee members; for whole-House-elected committees, normally from the chair's party unless the committee decides otherwise for compelling reasons.
• Committee on Standards and Public Accounts Committee acting chairs must come from the official Opposition unless unavailable, then from another opposition party.
• Backbench Business Committee acting chair provisions must comply with Standing Orders 122D(1)(c) and 152J(6).
• Acting chairs automatically exercise all delegated chair powers and sit on the Liaison Committee during the chair's absence.
• Both incumbent and acting chairs receive salary payment (incumbent: full; acting: pro rata).
• Chairs must give five sitting days' written notice for leave, early return, or extension; all appointments and changes must be reported to the House and recorded in Votes and Proceedings.
• Committees may remove acting chairs at any point via motion of no confidence meeting Standing Order 122C conditions (ten sitting days' notice, majority plus cross-party support).
• Acting chair service does not count toward term limits under Standing Order 122A; previous chairs may act even if term-limited.
• Scheme applies only to select committees whose chairs receive IPSA salaries (currently 32 committees) and should be reviewed at the next Parliament.

Key actors

Sir Alan Campbell, Layla Moran MP, Paulette Hamilton MP, James Rhys, Lee Bridges, Cat Smith MP, Dame Meg Hillier MP