Next week's committees
Two more days of the Commons next week, and three more days of the Lords, before Parliament shuts up shop for the summer - but they're cramming in lots of promising-looking select committee action before they go. Here are the highlights.....
On Monday, the takes evidence on the £10.5bn Private Finance Initiative contract to deliver a military tanker aircraft capability. says progress is now being made. And the Transport Secretary Philip Hammond MP will be come the latest Cabinet minister to debut before their departmental committee, when he meets the - expect plenty of questions about the future of key infrastructure projects.
The committee rooms will positively hum with activity on Tuesday - and there should be a pretty lively session when the examines the controversial plans to cap redundancy payments for civil servants.
With major redundancies on the cards, the committee plans to explore the implications and the prospects for a negotiated deal. The witnesses include the Civil Service unions: and Cabinet Office ministers Francis Maude and Oliver Letwin. The ministers will also be quizzed on the government's plans for reform of the public sector - including civil service reform, the "Big Society" and the abolition of quangos.
The newly-created will continue probing the government's proposals for voting and parliamentary reform - looking first at plans for bigger constituencies and fewer MPs - with expert witnesses Ron Johnston, professor of geography, University of Bristol and Robin Gray, former Boundary Commissioner for England. They'll then turn to examining the proposed referendum on the Alternative Vote and the merits of the system itself with Patrick Dunleavy, professor of political science and public policy at the LSE and Justin Fisher, professor of political science, Brunel University.
Ed Balls, the former schools secretary and champion of the previous government's schools renewal project, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) goes into bat in defence of the programme at the - after the government's decision to axe it.
The is back again, taking evidence on the Customer First Programme - DBIS's system for administering student finance in England. on the problems in 2009, when many students found their cash delayed and some had to start university without knowing the outcome of their application for finance. The key witness is Simon Fraser, the permanent secretary.
Launching its new inquiry into policing, the will take evidence from Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers and Sir Paul Stephenson; chief commissioner of the Met.
And Lord Rees, president of the Royal Society, gives evidence to the as it continues its 'scene setting' hearings. The committee will probe on key science issues, including the challenges ahead as the sector faces likely cuts.
Over in the Upper House the will launch a new inquiry into the EU single market by holding an evidence session with former EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti. The single market has been criticised in Europe since the financial crisis over alleged bias towards the "Anglo-Saxon market model".
Chairman Baroness O'Cathain, says he's "the perfect witness to kick off our inquiry. Not only is he a former Competition Commissioner, he has massive influence on the European Commission as was shown by his being asked to write a report on re-launching the single market. His proposals for reconciling different market models across the EU are likely to provide an important contribution to the debate in the EU."
And even though the Commons is not sitting on Wednesday some of its select committees are. Michael Gove, the education secretary, makes his debut appearance before the and will doubtless respond to Tuesday's session with Ed Balls on the BSF programme. Other hot topics include the Academies Bill, free schools, Ofsted and qualifications.
The holds its first session this Parliament examining the Channel 4's latest annual report with C4 executives. Among other issues, the committee are likely to discuss the implications of the Digital Economy Act for Channel 4.
And the new continues its flying start with its first session with Bank of England Governor Mervyn King. They'll cover the bank's May inflation report and the new arrangements to ensure financial stability. Other likely topics include the possibility of a double-dip recession, rising inflation and unemployment and how the new powers given to the bank by the Chancellor will work.
And then they're all off until 6 September, when the Commons, but not the Lords, reconvenes for a fortnight before the party conference season.
I'm Mark D'Arcy and I'll be writing about what goes on in the chambers and committee rooms at Westminster.
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