Top Tips for appearing before Select Committees

This week’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee session, which led to the resignation of the Chairman of the Football Association, is a valuable reminder for businesses of the pitfalls that can occur if these challenging situations are not managed effectively. 

Select Committees are a vital tool in Parliament’s scrutiny of public policy, and the participation of businesses and campaign groups alongside Government and public sector bodies is key in informing parliamentarians on their conclusions and recommendations. The vast majority of select committee evidence sessions don’t hit the headlines, a poorly-prepared witness or an unhelpful comment can have significant reputational impacts on an organisation. 

Here are three top tips to bear in mind when invited to provide oral evidence to a Select Committee: 

1: Make sure you’re sending the right person: Select Committees will typically call the most senior person in an organisation to give evidence to an inquiry. Often the CEO or Director-General will be the most appropriate spokesperson, but if an issue is highly technical or if another senior individual within the business has specific responsibility for it, it may be better to suggest an alternative spokesperson to the Committee Clerks. It’s important to maintain a high level of seniority to demonstrate your organisation’s understanding of the seriousness of the process, and committees are much less interested in hearing the views of PR and communications professionals than those with direct operational, financial or policy responsibility. 

2: You won’t always have all the answers: Evidence sessions can be intense, often lasting over 90 minutes and with a small number of witnesses. While your spokesperson should have key facts and figures to hand, ideally on one or two sheets of paper in front of them during the session, it’s highly likely that they won’t be able to answer every single detailed question. In this case, it’s perfectly acceptable to inform the Committee that they don’t have the answer to hand and will follow up in writing. While there can be a temptation to guess at the correct answer, this can come back to bite a witness later in the session or in the following weeks. 

On the other hand, a witness who constantly tells the Committee that they don’t have the answers to its questions will receive short shrift. We highly recommend Intensive preparation beforehand to anticipate the most likely questions and ensure that your witness can answer these clearly and competently.  

3: Remember you’re a human being, not a corporation: Usually, witnesses are invited to give evidence on behalf of a business or other organisation rather than as individuals. This can lead to robotic responses, as spokespeople feel under pressure to toe the organisational line and avoid any personal opinions. However, demonstrating that your spokesperson understands the human impact of your organisation’s decisions is critical, particularly in situations where your organisation has done something wrong. In this case, spokespeople should feel comfortable to speak authentically, show empathy and apologise where this is required. Unlike a high-profile media interview which may last 15 minutes, the length and format of a select committee session enables parliamentarians to maintain pressure on witnesses who refuse to admit wrongdoing or apologise, which can itself attract media interest and damage reputations. 

If you would like to learn more about Newington’s specialist select committee training offer, please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Photo by Andrew Medhat on Unsplash