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Letter from Mr Michael Scholar CB, Permanent
Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry to the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards
Thank you for your letter of 29 January.
I think that, if an MP had declared a financial
interest in the course of dealings with Ministers or the Department,
that fact would normally be mentioned in our papers, because it
would be relevant information which might affect the way in which
Ministers or the Department responded to the MP.
But there is no formal Departmental practice
requiring such a matter to be recorded, nor do I think that it
would be right for the Department to make a practice of enquiring
of an MP who has dealings with the Department whether he or she
has a relevant financial interest. That would seem to be a matter
for the MP himself, or for the House of Commons, rather than
for the Department.
M C Scholar
5 February 1997
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