In a highly unusual intervention, a research paper by the Parliament warns its constitutionally-enshrined independence is being eroded by a process it calls "executive creep".

This is where the bureaucratic arm of government, known as the executive, is increasingly curtailing the Parliament's ability to apply scrutiny.

This is because, unlike many other jurisdictions operating under the Westminster system, in Victoria the executive directly controls the Parliament's funding, and the Parliament must justify its "outputs" in terms of the government's agenda.

The "disproportionate growth" in the power of the executive and the relegation of Parliament to a government agency forced to ask the government for funding is a reversal of the constitutional principle of responsible government, the paper warns. It also "contributes towards a growing concern over the level of control the executive now wields over Parliament".

"This imbalance must be reversed if the separation of powers is to perform its constitutional role, and Victoria is to avoid Parliament becoming a flawed branch of democracy."

Over the past decade about half of the Parliament's funding requests have been knocked back by Treasury, potentially stifling its ability to scrutinise controversial legislation, political decisions and even bad behaviour by individual MPs.

The warning raises serious questions about whether the Andrews government has been able to avoid scrutiny by failing to adequately fund parliamentary committees and the Parliament more broadly.

It also raises questions about the separation of powers, where law makers (the legislature), the government (the executive) and the legal system (the judiciary) are required to operate independently.

"There is rarely, if any, 'fat' left in the parliamentary budget for the Victorian Parliament to scrutinise any of the government activities that may lie outside [the] budget," the report says. To add to the insult, under the current rules, the Parliament is unable to roll over any cash left over at the end of a financial year, unless specifically approved by the government.

In the potentially radical idea, the report, raises the possibility that the Parliament could seize back control by voting to set up a so-called parliamentary corporate body (PCB) that would pass laws to draw down its own money.

The concerns have been mirrored by upper house President Bruce Atkinson, who has previously warned that the Victorian Parliament has been treated not as a separate and equal branch of government, but as "just another cost centre within an increasingly large government bureaucracy".

Parliament, required to monitor and scrutinise the executive, was at the mercy of that same executive for funding to carry out these functions," Mr Atkinson wrote in 2012. "A view quite rightly developed that the power imbalance was untenable."

Chairman of the upper house environment and planning committee David Davis said it was becoming increasingly difficult to get support from the Andrews government for what are the legitimate scrutiny roles of the Parliament.

That includes a rejected request for additional funding for an inquiry into unconventional gas, which remains an important policy question facing the state.

A spokesman for Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings said: "We are happy to consider the contents of the report."