UK Parliamentary Archives

• Held At: Parliamentary Archives: GB-061
• Catalogue Reference: HL/CP
• Ref No: HL/CP
• Date: 1832-2009
• Level: Series
• Extent: 3137 files
• Creator Name: House of Lords; Committee Office; 1621-
• Administrative or Biographical History: The use of committees in the House of Lords originated in the middle ages but there is little information concerning them until the 16th century. The Journals from the reign of Henry VIII onwards occasionally record the commitment of bills to one or more lords, and Sir Thomas Smith (d. 1577) observed that "The committees are such that either the lords in the higher house, or burgesses in the lower house do choose to frame the laws upon such bills as are agreed upon, and afterward to be ratified by the said houses". The House of Lords Standing Orders of 1621 provided for the appointment of committees both for bills and also for general debate of "great business". Such committees were either of the Whole House [CWH], or "out of the house" (later becoming known as "outdoor committees" or "select committees") to which particular members of the House would be appointed.
  
  Committees of the Whole House, Outdoor Committees and Committees for conferences were usually ordered ad hoc. From 1621 onwards, however, certain Outdoor Committees were named at the opening of a session in order that they should deal with a specific category of business throughout that session. The first of these Sessional Committees was the Committee for Privileges, of which a sub-committee was appointed to peruse the Journals. A second which played a particularly important role during 1640-1649 was the Committee for Petitions. The most active Sessional Committee subsequently appointed was the Offices Committee, which originated in a series of Select Committees from 1717 onwards and became sessional in 1824. Between 1889 and 1910 "Standing" Committees were appointed each session for Public Bills committed to them by the house. Sessional Committees are regularly appointed as follows:
  The Committee for Privileges
  The Appellate Committee (usually two)
  The Appeal Committee (usually two)
  Standing Orders Committee
  Committee of Selection (for membership of Select Committees)
  HL Offices Committee
  Special Orders Committee
  Procedure Committee
  Personal Bills Committee
  Leave of Absence Committee
  
  Committees may only consider matters specifically referred to them by the House. Reports and papers may be referred to them to facilitate their discussions, and it is common practice for committees to proceed by hearing of evidence. Witnesses are normally invited to attend by the clerk of the committee, but an Order of the House is needed to enforce attendance, or cause the production of documents. All lords are entitled to attend Select Committees and to speak, but unless named as members of the committee they may not vote. Although debate in committee is freer than in the House, every question in committee is determined in the same manner as in the House. The committee normally concludes its business by drafting and agreeing on a Report, and this is then presented, usually by the Chair, to the House. The Report, the Evidence and any relevant papers may be ordered to be printed by the House (see Sessional Papers). It has been customary for Private Bills to be referred to Select Committees, and Public Bills to Committees of the Whole House. This practice has not however, been invariable, as when Standing Committees for legislative purposes were appointed for such classes of bill as the House determined, and every bill within these classes was to be committed to a Standing Committee unless otherwise ordered. The records of the Standing Committee proceedings were then included as appendices to the Minutes and the Journals for the appropriate days. Since 1968 a few Public Bills have been referred to Select Committees whose proceedings were likewise recorded in appendices to Hansard, the Minutes of Proceedings and the Journals respectively. The Bills were subsequently recommitted to Committees of the Whole House.
  
  The increase of Parliamentary work in the 19th century led to increased specialisation within the Parliament Office and by 1854 fixed departments had been formed, including an office dedicated to Committees. From 1936-1971 the Committee Office was merged with the Private Bill Office.
• Acquisition: The records are usually transferred to the Parliamentary Archives at the end of sessions and at the end of a Parliament.
• Category: Unpublished Select Committee papers
• Description: The Committee Papers include some of the records of two main House of Lords Select Committees (European Communites Committee/European Union Committee and Science and; Technology Committee), particularly 1985-1999, and also records accumulated by the Record Office of domestic, legislative, and joint committees dating from c.1900 to the present day.
  The records include:
  · general working papers (minutes, agendas, briefs, correspondence etc.)
  · papers relating to particular inquiries and reports (e.g. memoranda, meetings files etc.).
• Terms:
  • Finance,
  • International law,
  • Law,
  • Legislation,
  • Leisure time activities,
  • EEC countries,
  • European Union,
  • International trade,
  • Trade,
  • Education,
  • Human rights,
  • State and Education,
  • Technology,
  • Agriculture,
  • Environment,
  • Aristocracy,
  • Foreign Trade,
  • Consumer protection,
  • Research and Development,
  • Transport policy,
  • Sea transport,
• Appraisal Information: Committees have guidelines on the type of material they should transfer to the Parliamentary Archives and usually therefore carry out appraisal themselves. Further appraisal will be done by the Parliamentary Archives when the records are transferred to new catalogue references in the future.
• Accruals: This series is closed and no further accruals are expected. Records of distinct Committees will be placed in HL/PO/CO or HL/PO/DC, as appropriate, to reflect their identity.
• System of Arrangement: The files are arranged sequentially without distinction, beginning at HL/CP/1. Accruals are added to the end of the series. There are some inconsistencies in the numbering, particularly in the early numbers.
  The HL/CP series was largely superceded after the Parliament of 1997-2001. Committee papers received from the Parliament of 2001- onwards are catalogued under HL/PO/CO/individual committee or HL/PO/DC/individual committee.
• Related Material: Committee reports and evidence are published among the House of Lords Sessional Papers. See HL/PO/CO for pre-20th century committee papers and the papers of individual committees. See HL/PO/DC for the records of Domestic Committees. See HL/PO/JT for the papers of Joint Committees. See HL/CP for the records of House of Commons Committees.
• Related Record:
  • HL/PO/CO,
  • HL/PO/DC,
  • HL/PO/JT,
  • HL/CP,
• Access Status: Open
• Access Conditions: These records are subject to 30 year closure, but from 2005, requests for access under Freedom of Information will be considered. Memoranda reported but not printed are open automatically, but not unreported memoranda. HL/CP/2771a recorded as missing August 2023. HL/CP/2684a and HL/CP/2684b were recorded as missing December 2023.
• Publication Notes: See M F Bond, "Guide to the Records of Parliament" (London, 1971), pp41-56 for an introduction to the work of the Committee Office and Committees.

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