New House of Lords Committee on Northern Ireland appointed

The cross-party Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee is being chaired by crossbench peer and barrister Lord Carlile of Berriew.

Lord Carlile said: “As Chair of the new Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee, I am looking forward to beginning our important work. We will aim to provide clarity for business and the public in relation to the Windsor Framework. The Committee will continue the good work of the Windsor Framework Sub-Committee in the last Parliament, looking even more closely at the impact of the arrangements on all affected sectors of the Northern Ireland economy, as well as its wider effects on social and political life. In doing so, the Committee will assist and inform Parliament and promote the widest interests in Northern Ireland.”

Many of the new Committee’s members sat on the Committee’s predecessor, the Windsor Framework Sub-Committee, which was dissolved at the last general election.

The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee has extensive experience of Northern Ireland, devolved and European issues.

In addition to the Chair, Lord Carlile, the membership of the Committee is: Democratic Unionist Party leader in the Lords, Lord Dodds, Ulster Unionist peer and former acting First Minister of Northern Ireland Lord Empey, former First Minister of Northern Ireland Baroness Foster, Labour peer Baroness Goudie, former Northern Ireland Secretary and now Labour peer Lord Hain, Conservative peers Lord Lexden and Lord McInnes of Kilwinning, crossbench peer and the first Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Baroness O’Loan, former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and now Labour peer Baroness Ritchie, and Liberal Democrat peers Lord Thomas of Gresford and Lord Willis of Knaresborough.

The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee – which will be reviewed after two years, at the end of 2026 – will complement the work of the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

Its remit is similar to that of the former Windsor Framework Sub-Committee which scrutinised European Union legislation within the scope of the Protocol/Windsor Framework, as well as relevant UK legislation relating to Northern Ireland. The Sub-Committee also conducted inquiries on related matters.

The new Committee is the only committee in the UK which scrutinises the full range of EU legislation applying to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework.

It will hold the Government to account over the impact of the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland and will shine a light on any difficulties or opportunities which arise from the arrangements.

Once the Committee begins its work, public sessions can be watched live, or later, on Parliament TV. When announced, its new inquiry will include a call for evidence, where interested individuals and organisations are invited to submit written evidence. Details of how to submit evidence will be posted on the Committee’s website in due course.