Annex iv8
Letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Standards from Mr Keith Vaz MP
7. Thank you for your letter of 6th July 2001 which
I received today 9th July 2001. I am most grateful to you for
the further information you have given me. So that I can give
you a complete picture to enable you to report to the Committee
I would be grateful if you could let me know the following in
relation to the matters you have raised so far.
8. In relation to Rita Gresty the first letter to
you from Mrs Eggington appears to the 23rd March 2001 it makes
no reference to Rita Gresty's mental illness, her hospitalization
nor the industrial tribunal proceedings is there some other document
that refers to this? You will understand why I am reluctant to
deal with accusations by someone who (on the admission of Mrs
Eggington) may not be fully well.
9. In relation to the material forwarded by the
BBC and the Telegraph this appears to be a collection of office
copy entries and electoral registration extracts, many of which
appear to relate to other people, the majority of which I do not
know anything about. It will take me several weeks to write to
individuals, electoral registration officers and others to get
a completely accurate picture for you as there appear to be so
many inaccuracies.
10. Could you possibly forward to me the covering
letters from the BBC and the Telegraph which will help me crystalise
what exactly is required. I assume that these were not just sent
as a bundle but that there was some kind of reason why this particular
material was provided.
11. In relation to Mr Peane's as he has made a complaint
about my handling of his case it would be inappropriate for me
to write to him I wonder whether you could write to him and seek
his permission for me to forward his file to you, you may of course
tell him that I have given you my consent.
12. Finally you asked Keith Bennett last week what
timetable I had in mind. Both you and I are anxious to deal with
this matter promptly. However I am also anxious that I answer
all the points as fully as I can so that there is no scope for
any subsequent accusations that information has not been provided
but I am dependent on letters being sent back to me.
13. The difficult is that the complaints raised go
back a number of years.
Mr Lansley's complaint—6 years
Mr Rowbotham's complaints—14 years and 8 years respectively
Mr Peane's complaint—2 years
The BBC information—16 years and onwards
The Telegraph information—5 years.
14. I am sure that you will appreciate that I shall
need to track down the information. You have indicated to Keith
that you intend to report to the Committee in October. You were
concerned to ensure that you had staff available over the recess.
I plan to go abroad next Monday and provided I have all the information
that is relevant I plan to deal with the matters you raise in
one submission when I return, and before I have my operation.
What I do not want to do is to give you bits of information with
an incomplete picture. It would be helpful for me to know when
you plan to be away so that I can adjust the timetable accordingly.
I hope you have a good break.
9 July 2001
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