One of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s recommendations on overview and scrutiny last year was that we should pilot arrangements for the election of overview and scrutiny chairs. The Committee was intrigued by the idea of bringing in a secret ballot for chair elections – presumably because of the positive experience of these elections in Parliament. Introduced following the adoption of the so-called Wright Reforms in 2010, select committee chair elections (amongst other changes) have been seen as instrumental in making select committee more vital and vigorous as they hold Government to account. We’re similarly keen to support ...