The Committee on Standards and Privileges
The Committee on Standards and Privileges is appointed
by the House of Commons to consider specific matters relating
to privileges referred to it by the House; to oversee the work
of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards; to examine the
arrangements proposed by the Commissioner for the compilation,
maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members' Interests
and any other registers of interest established by the House;
to review from time to time the form and content of those registers;
to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering
or declaring of interests referred to it by the Commissioner;
to consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including
specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches in any code
of conduct to which the House has agreed and which have been drawn
to the committee's attention by the Commissioner; and to recommend
any modifications to such code of conduct as may from time to
time appear to be necessary. The constitution and powers of the
Committee are set out in Standing Order No. 149.
The Committee consists of eleven Members, of whom
the quorum for any formal proceedings is five. The members of
the Committee are appointed by the House and unless discharged
remain on the Committee until the next dissolution of Parliament.
The present membership of the Committee is as follows:[1]
| Mr Martin Bell OBE MP[2]
| (Independent, Tatton) |
| Mr Peter Bottomley MP[3]
| (Conservative, Worthing West) |
| Mr Malcolm Bruce MP[4]
| (Liberal Democrat, Gordon) |
| Mr Dale Campbell-Savours MP[3] | (Labour, Workington)
|
| Rt Hon Eric Forth MP[5]
| (Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst)
|
| Mr Michael Jabez Foster DL MP[3] | (Labour, Hastings and Rye)
|
| Mr Tom Levitt MP[3] | (Labour, High Peak)
|
| Mr Terry Lewis MP[3] | (Labour, Worsley)
|
| Shona McIsaac MP[3] | (Labour, Cleethorpes)
|
| Rt Hon Robert Sheldon MP[3] | (Labour, Ashton under Lyne)
|
| Rt Hon Alan Williams MP[3] | (Labour, Swansea West)
|
On 1 July 1997 the Committee elected Mr Robert Sheldon
as its Chairman.
The Committee has the power to require the submission of written
evidence and documents, to examine witnesses and to make Reports
to the House. In the footnotes to this Report, references to oral
evidence are indicated by 'Q' followed by the question number,
and references to the written evidence are indicated by 'Ev' followed
by a page number.
The Committee may meet at any time (except when Parliament is
prorogued or dissolved) and at any place within the United Kingdom.
The Committee has power to order the attendance of any Member
of Parliament before the committee and to require that specific
documents or records in the possession of a Member relating to
its inquiries, or to the inquiries of the Commissioner, be laid
before the Committee. The Committee has power to refuse to allow
its public proceedings to be broadcast. The Law Officers, if they
are Members of Parliament, may attend and take part in the Committee's
meetings, but they cannot vote.
The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The
Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the
Committee are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/
s&phome.htm. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present
Parliament is at the end of the volume.
All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk of the Committee
on Standards and Privileges, Committee Office, House of Commons,
London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general inquiries is
020 7219 6615.
1 Mr
Quentin Davies MP (Conservative, Grantham and Stamford)
was appointed on 25 June 1997 and discharged on 22 June 1998.
Rt Hon Sir Alastair Goodlad KCMG MP (Conservative, Eddisbury
until 28 June 1999) was appointed on 22 June 1998 and discharged
on 19 January 1999. Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP (Liberal Democrat,
Ross, Skye and Inverness West) was appointed on 25 June 1997
and discharged on 3 November 1999. Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe MP (Conservative,
Maidstone and The Weald) was appointed on 25 June 1997 and
discharged on 3 December 1997. Back
2 Appointed
on 3 December 1997. Back
3 Appointed
on 25 June 1997. Back
4 Appointed
on 3 November 1999. Back
5 Appointed
on 19 January 1999. Back
|
