The following article was written by Stephen Williams MP and was originally published on the Liberal Democrat Voice Website:

There has been much talk in recent weeks about how Liberal Democrats show our distinctiveness and make the party’s voice heard more loudly in government.

A key part of this is the role of the Lib Dem parliamentary committees, one of which I co-chair.

These committees are not simply talking shops. They perform two important functions: making our influence felt within government and preparing the ground for party policy in the future.

Increasingly, the fruits of these committees are being seen.

The Coalition Agreement is the contract that underwrites this government. It sets out the policy agenda agreed between ourselves and our Coalition partners.

However, the exact shape of the legislation and how it is introduced is, rightly, subject to scrutiny and improvement, and that is one of the roles our committees take on.

Take elected police commissioners for example. The Government is committed to introducing them, but it is right that we discuss and raise concerns about their remit and the manner in which they are introduced.

The Lib Dem home affairs committee has been doing just that and is applying pressure to make sure they are subject to robust checks and balances.

Take the issue of the state pension age for women. Jenny Willott, as co-chair of our work and pensions committee, is pressing for changes to ensure the increase in the state pension age does not unfairly disadvantage thousands of women who will not have been given adequate time to prepare for their retirement.

But we don’t just scrutinise and influence existing government policy, we bring forward new ideas.

Earlier this year, as a result of the work of the Treasury/BIS committee that I co-chair and the think tank CentreForum, I published proposals to distribute shares in the bailed-out banks to the British public.

Momentum is already building behind this idea. Another think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies has since come out in support of the proposals. Actually, what they did was make strikingly similar proposals that they published in their own name, but a good idea is a good idea and I’m glad more people are getting behind it.

At Prime Minister’s Questions this week, following a question by my colleague Alan Beith, David Cameron said he was open to the idea.

Radical thinking does not become government policy overnight, but I am hoping to meet with the Prime Minister in the near future to see how we can take the proposals forward.

The advantage we have being in Government is that we can make our ideas a reality. Not every one, but then we didn’t win the election. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity to influence the direction of our country that liberals haven’t had for decades.

Through our parliamentary committees, Liberal Democrats are influencing and improving Coalition policy, pushing innovative ideas and laying the groundwork for party policy as we prepare for the next General Election in 2015.