ANNEX 1
Recommendations made by the former Committee
on Standards and Privileges
[References are to the Committee's Fifth
Report, HC 267 (2000-01)]
1. The Code of Conduct applies to Members in
all aspects of their public life. The Code does not, and the House
should not, seek to regulate what Members do in their purely private
and personal lives. [Para. 3]
2. The purpose of registration is openness
about interests or benefits which might reasonably be thought
to influence actions taken in the capacity of a Member of Parliament.
Registration of an interest does not imply any wrongdoing
and should not be treated as doing so, either by Members or by
the media. [Para. 4]
3. The guidance set out in paragraph 63 of The
Guide to the Rules should be applied in future to overseas
visits. [Para. 5]
4. Paragraph 62(7) of The Guide to the Rules
should be amended to read:
"Overseas Visits: Although, except
as set out in paragraph 28, overseas visits must be registered
and declared, such visits shall not be taken into account when
applying the rule [banning lobbying for reward or consideration]."
[Para. 5]
5. Hospitality provided by Her Majesty's Government,
any of the devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales or Northern
Ireland, or Non-Departmental Public Bodies, including a Member's
local authorities or health authorities, should be exempt from
registration. [Para. 10].
6. The following sentences should be added to
paragraph 24 of The Guide to the Rules:
"Benefits, such as tickets to sporting or
cultural events, received by another person together with or on
behalf of a Member should be registered as if they had been received
by the Member. Gifts, or other benefits, from another Member of
Parliament are registrable in the same way as those from anyone
else." [Para. 11]
7. The Guide to the Rules should be amended as
follows:
"paragraph 31: insert, after "children"
in line 4, "Members should also include identifiable holdings
of overseas trusts of which they are actual or potential beneficiaries."
after paragraph 33: insert a new paragraph, as follows:
"Members should register under this category potential or
actual interests in overseas trusts, except where these have been
registered under Category 9"." [Para. 15]
8. The Resolution of the House on advocacy [lobbying
for reward or consideration] should be amended by adding the words
"or any approach, whether oral or in writing, to Ministers
or servants of the Crown". [Para. 17]
9. The following sentence should be inserted
after paragraph 12 of The Guide to the Rules:
"A reference in any Category to a spouse
includes a Member's partner." [Para. 21]
10. The Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme should
be added to the list of exemptions from registration at sub-paragraph
(iii) of paragraph 28 of The Guide to the Rules. The Committee
on Standards and Privileges should have power to add similar schemes
to the list from time to time. [Para. 22]
11. The guidance to Category 9 should be amended
to bring it in line with the rule. [Para. 27]
12. The description of employment agreements
in The Guide to the Rules should be changed to "agreements
for the provision of services". [Para. 32]
13. The Resolution of 6 November 1995 should
be amended to allow the reproduction of deposited agreements.
[Para. 34]
14. Membership of the Scottish Parliament, the
National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the
European Parliament and local authorities in the United Kingdom
should not be taken into account when applying the advocacy rule
[the ban on lobbying for reward or consideration]. [Para. 37]
15. The restrictions imposed by the advocacy
rule [the ban on lobbying for reward or consideration] should
not apply to Ministers when acting in the House as Ministers.
[Para. 37]
16. Paragraph 62(4) of The Guide to the Rules
should be amended to remove the provision relating to the period
between 15 November 1995 and the publication of the 1997 Register.
[Para. 37]
17. The Guide to the Rules should be amended
to refer to "lobbying for reward or consideration" rather
than "advocacy". [Para. 39]
18. It is a basic courtesy that a Member making
a complaint to the Commissioner should at the same time send a
copy of the letter of complaint to the Member concerned. Where
the Committee felt that a complaint from a Member was frivolous
or had been made only for partisan reasons, it would expect to
state that in any report it made about the complaint. [Para. 47]
19. Paragraph 46 of The Guide to the Rules
should be amended to read "a declaration should be brief
but should make specific reference to the nature of the Member's
interest." [Para. 56]
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