Parliamentary select committees of the United Kingdom

A parliamentary select committee in the United Kingdom can be appointed from the House of Commons, like the Foreign Affairs Select Committee; from the House of Lords, or as a joint committee of Parliament drawn from both of them. Some of the committees are near-permanent and some are set up for some special work and then stop. Most of the Commons committees look at the work of government departments and agencies but the Lords committees mostly look at big subjects.

Committees may be nearly permanent), or as "ad-hoc" committees with a specific timeline by which to complete their work, after which they stop existing, such as the recent Lords Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.

Both Houses have their own committees to review drafts of European Union directives: the European Union Committee in the House of Lords, and the European Scrutiny Committee in the House of Commons.