Plans for departmental scrutiny suggested

MPs have suggested a range of measures whereby the Commons can better debate government annual reports.

In a new report released on Wednesday, the Commons modernisation committee recommended that more debates on the documents could be held in Westminster Hall and in the House itself.

The cross-party committee, chaired by leader of the House Harriet Harman, welcomed the government's proposal last year for better scrutiny of departmental objectives as "commendable".

It said that more time should also be found to debate select committee reports on the work of Whitehall ministries.

However the MPs accepted that options would be limited "without displacing existing business that is of interest to members".

Therefore they recommended that rather than debating every department on an annual basis, the liaison select committee chairmen could advise on which to consider and in which arena.

They also said that better use could be made of the system of 'tagging' debates on the Commons order paper, whereby MPs are alerted to the relevance of an annual report or select committee investigation.

"More consistent tagging of departmental annual reports and associated select committee publications would go some way towards achieving the aim [of greater scrutiny] by clearly identifying existing opportunities for debate and providing members with the material needed for effective scrutiny," the report said.