Louise Thompson is Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Surrey and Research Associate at the Centre for Legislative Studies, University of Hull.

'A fascinating insight into the engine room of parliament, this is a superbly researched study, showing that committees exert considerable influence on legislation. It is an indispensable antidote to all the doom-mongers who say that parliament doesn't matter.' Philip Cowley, Professor of Parliamentary Government, University of Nottingham, UK 'This book is a must for the shelves of anyone interested in politics and parliament.Through the meticulously detailed analysis of over 30,000 amendments and a decade of committee sittings, Louise Thompson demonstrates not only that parliament matters, but also the importance of research that goes beyond the headlines and takes due account of the context of practices. This is an exceptional contribution to our understanding of committee work, the UK Parliament and meaningful legislative studies research methods.' Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Professor of Parliament, University of Hull, UK 'Louise Thompson lifts the lid on a crucial part of the parliamentary legislative clockwork. No academic or political observer of Parliament will henceforth be able to stereotype the passage of bills through detailed scrutiny in public bill committees as a meaningless ritual. Dr Thompson has for the first time engaged with the content of Bills and the later stages of their passage in both Houses, and demonstrates the vitality of these committees. Students of parliamentary studies of all ages are in her debt.' David Natzler, Clerk of the House of Commons, UK

• List of Figures and Tables Preface PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Discredited Scrutiny 2. Understudied And Overshadowed 3. Why Should We Care About Committee Work? 4. Aims And Structure Of This Book PART II: THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF BILL COMMITTEES 5. Committees And The Legislative Process 6. Moving Upstairs 7. Purpose 8. Sittings And Membership 9. Committee Procedure 10. Programming 11. Evidence Taking 12. Limitations And Opportunities PART III: THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF BILL COMMITTEES 13. Gladstone Introduces Standing Committees 14. Watershed Moment 15. Select Committees And Special Standing Committees 16. Attempts At Programming 17. Post 1997 Reforms 18. The 2006 Reforms 19. An End To Standing Committees 20. Introduction Of Evidence Taking 21. Public Reading Stage 22. Efficient To Effective Committees? PART IV: MEASURING COMMITTEE IMPACT 23. Measuring Parliamentary Impact 24. The Viscosity Of The Process 25. Measuring Committee Impact 26. Formal Indicators Of Viscosity In Committee 27. How Many Bills Are Amended? 28. How Many Amendments Are Made? 29. Success Of Government Amendments 30. Government Defeats In Committee 31. Success Of Non Government Amendments 32. What Do Amendments Actually Change? 33. The Hunting Bill 2002-03 34. Explaining Low Viscosity In Committees 35. Strong Committee Discipline 36. Ministerial Reluctance To Accept Amendments 37. Alternative Means Of Constrain 38. Overwhelming Compliance PART V: THE OTHER SIDE OF COMMITTEE WORK 39. Indicators Of Viscosity 40. Indicators At Committee Stage 41. Changes Made Elsewhere 42. Commitments To Reconsider Amendments 43. Commitments To Table Amendments At Report 44. Compromises 45. Indicators At Report Stage 46. Ministerial Undertakings In Committee 47. Between Committee Stage And Report 48. Committee Influence At Report Stage 49. The Content Of Report Stage Amendments 50. Other Changes At Report 51. NHS Redress [HL] Bill 52. Why Is Committee Impact Greater At Report? 53. Maximising Policy Impact 54. Committee Impact In The House Of Lords 55. The Full Picture Of Committee Scrutiny PART VI: ENGAGING WITH EXPERTS 56. Initial Impressions 57. Who Gives Evidence? 58. A Scrutiny Weapon 59. Informing Members 60. Probing Amendments 61. Use Of Evidence In Committee 62. Agenda Setting 63. Amendment Supporting 64. Amendment Drafting 65. Trailing Amendments 66. Formal Impact Of Evidence Taking 67. Evidence Taking And Ministerial Undertakings 68. The Health And Social Care Bill 2007-08 69. Expected Patterns Of Scrutiny Behaviour 70. An Opposition Tool 71. Impact At Report Stage 72. An Imperfect Process PART VII: CONCLUSION 73. Capacity And Reality 74. Changing Expectations 75. Interrupting The Flow Of Government Legislation 76. Maximising Committee Impact 77. A Very British Method Of Scrutiny 78. Note On Sample Of Bills References Index