Holding Government to account – In conversation with Ruth Cadbury MP

Select Committees work in both Houses of Parliament. They scrutinise and report on a wide range of activities from the work of Government departments to economics affairs. They run inquiries on specific topics, the outcomes of which are public and many require a response from the government. They are to be taken seriously by all those who are asked to give evidence. The Transport Committee is nominated by the House of Commons to scrutinise the Department for Transport.

Its formal remit is to hold Ministers and Departments to account, and to investigate matters of public concern. Ruth Cadbury MP is Chair of the Transport Select having been elected to the position in September 2024. It falls to her to lead the Committee through the scrutiny of the Railways Bill and the creation of Great British Railways.

Green Signals recently met up with Ruth to learn more about the work of the Committee, how challenging it can be some times to hold Ministers and officials to account and her views on the Railways Bill. We started though by asking her how she got into politics in the first place…..