Most inquiries result in a report to the House, containing recommendations to the department, the wider Government, and sometimes other organisations such as arms-length agencies or regulators.
Once the oral evidence is concluded, the chair is responsible for commissioning a draft report for the whole committee to consider. First, there will normally be one or more meetings when the committee will discuss a proposed structure for the report and an outline of the narrative and recommendations. These are known as heads of report discussions.
The heads of report is often a vital element in enabling the staff who will draft the report to gather the political input which will help them to express the committee’s opinions.