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Letter from Sir Peter Hordern MP to Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards
I felt you might wish to see this note from
the Library of the House.
It sets out the position of the declaration
of Members' interests, as opposed to the declaration of payment
or benefit received, as it obtained in the 1980s.
I believe it fully supports my view of the distinction
that should be drawn.
As you know I always declared my interest.
5 March 1997
Note from House of Commons Library to
Sir Peter Hordern, MP
MEMBERS INTERESTS
You asked for a note setting out the
rules concerning the declaration of Members' interests, as they
applied in 1987 and 1988. You asked us to check whether the income
from an interest or benefit registered or declared had to be
stated.
In my response I am presuming that you are referring
to publishing of interests in the register rather than oral declarations
in the Chamber.
In 1987-88 and indeed until the new post Nolan
arrangement came into effect there was no general requirement
to give details on the amount of income or benefit declared or
registered. However, some of the nine categories of registration
did require the Member to list interests where there were "material
benefits"[55] or
property of "substantial value".[56]
No figures were fixed, however, in order to assist with these
definitions, and Members did not give specific amounts in the
annual Register. I enclose the Foreword from the Register of
Members Interests on 8 December 1987, [57]
which gives the nine categories of register and summarises the
requirements on Members.
In 1991-92 The Select Committee on Members Interests
reviewed the operation of the rules on declaration and registration
following the John Browne case. It examined the case for disclosure
of amounts of remuneration as follows: [58]
Disclosure of amounts of remuneration
32. Several witnesses, mainly from outside the
House, advocated the disclosure of levels of remuneration in
the Register, either as precise amounts or through use of a banding
structure. The principal argument advanced in favour of the registration
of amounts of remuneration is that it is difficult for a reader
of the Register properly to assess the nature and extent of a
Member's interests without knowing the amounts involved. "The
bigger the reward, the more likely is a Member to be influenced
in the event of a conflict of interests; publishing its size
might serve to modify his vigour in furthering the interests of
outside bodies" . . .
33. We have reconsidered these arguments; but
on balance we do not accept them. As Mr Speaker succinctly put
it, "it is the nature of the interest, not the actual sum
of money, that is important". Nor is it necessarily the
case that amounts of remuneration would be a reliable guide to
the degree of influence which an interest might exert on a Member
of Parliament: this could depend at least as much on the personal
circumstances of the individual Member and on other, non-pecuniary,
considerations. To require the disclosure of amounts would represent
a significant intrusion into the privacy and personal affairs
of a Member of Parliament, and we can find no substantial justification
for recommending such action.
Following a recommendation from the Committee's
guidance, the Registrar began to produce a written guide to the
rules (as revised by the Committee) and this has now been subsumed
into the new Code of Conduct and other post-Nolan changes. In
1987-88, however, no written guidance on the rules was available
other than successive reports from the Select Committee on Members
Interests. Of course the Registrar was available for consultation
and advice: You may wish to consult the Registry of Members Interests
for advice on the operation of the register in the late 1980s
if you require further clarification.
4 March 1997
REGISTER OF MEMBERS' INTERESTS
Introduction to the 1987 (New Parliament)
Edition
The House resolved in May 1974 to establish
a Register of Members' Interests and in June 1975 substantially
agreed to a Report from the Select Committee on Members' Interests
(Declaration) [59]
which set out the purpose and scope of the Register and arrangements
connected with the registration of interests.
The purpose of the Register is to provide information
of any pecuniary interest or other material benefit which a Member
may receive which might be thought to affect his conduct as a
member or influence his actions, speeches or vote in Parliament[60]
and Members are required to have this general purpose in mind
when determining what interests should properly be declared.
They may, if they think it right and relevant, disclose interests
beyond those set out below.
The scope of the Register, devised by the Select
Committee and adopted by the House, seeks to balance, on the
one hand, what should be publicly known about Members of Parliament
with, on the other, the proper degree of privacy to which they
and their families are entitled. They are not required to disclose
the amount of any remuneration or benefit they may have, nor
the interests of spouses or children, except in certain circumstances
relating to shareholdings.
It is left to individual Members, with or without
the advice of the Registrar, to give the required information,
and any inconsistencies of style or content that are apparent
in the Register spring from that fact. Each Member is responsible
for what is recorded about himself here, as each is answerable
to his fellow-Members and the public.
The nine specific classes under which Members
have been required to register their interests are:
(1) remunerated directorships of companies,
public or private.
(2) remunerated employments or offices.
Ministerial office and membership of the European Parliament,
Council of Europe, Western European Union and the North Atlantic
Assembly do not need to be registered.
(3) remunerated trades, professions or
vocations.
(4) the names of clients when the interests
referred to above include personal services by the Member which
arise out of or are related in any manner to his membership of
the House. These services include as well as any action connected
with any proceedings in the House or its Committees, the sponsoring
of functions in the Palace, making representations to Ministers,
Civil Servants and other Members, accompanying delegations to
Minsters and the like.
(5) financial sponsorships,
(a) as parliamentary candidate where to the
knowledge of the Member the sponsorship in any case exceeds 25
per cent of the candidate's election expenses, or
(b) as a Member of Parliament, by any person
or organisation, stating whether any such sponsorship includes
any payment to the Member or any material benefit or advantage
direct or indirect. This subsection includes gifts in relation
to a Member's parliamentary duties, other than those received
from abroad to which category 7 applies. It is, however, not
necessary for a Member to register the fact that he is supported
by his local constituency party.
(6) overseas visits relating to or arising
out of membership of the House where the cost of any such visit
has not been wholly borne by the Member or by public funds. Overseas
visits undertaken on behalf of the Inter Parliamentary Union,
the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Council of Europe,
the Western European Union and the North Atlantic Assembly, or
by any institution of the European Economic Communities need not
be registered.
(7) any payments or any material benefits
or advantages received from or on behalf of foreign Governments,
organisations or persons.
(8) land and property of substantial value
or from which a substantial income is derived. The requirement
is to register the general nature of the interest rather than
a detailed list of the holdings. A Member's home need not be
declared, unless he also receives an income from it.
(9) the names of companies or other bodies
in which the Member has, to his knowledge, either himself or
with or on behalf of his spouse or infant children, a beneficial
interest in shareholdings of a nominal value greater than one-hundredth
of the issued share capital.
55 Category 7 benefits from foreign governments, etc. Back
56
Category 8 land and property. Back
57
HC 200 1987. Back
58
HC 326 1991-92. Back
59
HC 1974-75, No. 102. Back
60
Ibid para. 11. Back
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