Three-part series examiningthe work of Parliamentary Select Committees. MPs Going to the Dogs. The newly-formed House of Commons Deregulation Committee has been designed to slice through bureaucratic red tape and rid the country of unnecessary regulations. The MPs who sit upon it are pledged to look at topics as diverse as freeing up the greyhound racing industry, reformingthe Sunday Observance Act of 1780 (which forbids anywhere to charge for dancing on a Sunday) and assessingthe level of bureaucracy faced by fishermen in Whitby.
But members of the Committee are, politically speaking, poles apart. Conservative John Sykesdetests bureaucrats and wants to free industry from regulatory strangleholds. His
Labourcolleague, Roger Berry , isjust as keen to serve, but his motivations fordoing so are very different.
As the Committee sets about its tasks, the political divisions become ever more obvious, as do frustrations concerningthe body's restricted powers. Presenter Sarah Harrison asks if it can really make a contribution to the much-heralded "bonfire of controls" promised by the Government.
Producer Alison Cahn : Editor Anne Tyerman