Conduct of Mr John Spellar
1. We have considered a memorandum by the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards relating to the complaint against Mr
John Spellar, Member for Warley, by Mr Paul Birkett, Secretary
of the Birmingham South 0803 Branch of the Amicus-AEEU union.
The Commissioner's memorandum is appended to this Report.
2. The complaint centres on the terms on which Mr
Spellar occupied office facilities in union premises, and his
alleged failure to declare these properly in the Register of Members'
Interests. Mr Spellar had the benefit of the use of this accommodation
from June 1992 to October 2002.
3. From June 1992 to June 1997, when Mr Spellar became
a Minister, he was employed by the union as a Political Officer,
and recorded this fact in the Register of Members' Interests.
We agree with the Commissioner that, during this period, there
was no need for him to register separately the benefit he derived
from his use of the office for parliamentary purposes.
4. When Mr Spellar relinquished his post as Political
Officer, he was allowed by the union to retain use of the office
facilities. Although the union was prepared to allow him use of
these free of charge, Mr Spellar told the Commissioner that he
did not wish to keep them on a basis that would imply any subsidy.
He therefore paid the union £500 per annum from his Office
Cost Allowance, to cover any incidental costs. This arrangement
continued until April 2002, when the union started to charge him
what it considered to be a commercial rent for the office.
5. On 16 February 2001, the provisions of Schedule
7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
(PPERA) entered into force. This imposed a reporting requirement
on Members of Parliament, who are "regulated donees"
for the purposes of this Act, in relation to "controlled
donations".[1] Where
such donations are received in kind, PPERA provides that they
are to be valued at the difference between the monetary value
of their provision on commercial terms and the monetary value
of the consideration (if any) provided by the donee. The provision
of Mr Spellar's office in the union's premises thus fell to be
treated as a controlled donation.
6. Mr Spellar did not treat the provision of this
office as a donation for the purposes of PPERA, and this subsequently
became apparent to the Electoral Commission. Following its decision
in February 2003 that the provision of this accommodation constituted
a recordable donation, an entry was included in the Commission's
register covering the period up to the end of March 2002. In the
light of the Commission's decision, Mr Spellar sought to make
an appropriate entry in the Register of Members' Interests to
cover the period from June 1997. This was made on 30 April 2003.
7. The Commissioner has upheld that part of Mr Birkett's
complaint relating to Mr Spellar's failure to declare, in the
Register of Members' Interests, the net benefit, from June 1997
to April 2002, of the office accommodation provided by the union.
We agree that he should have registered this in June 1997. However,
we note that, once he realised that he needed to do so, he moved
promptly to include an appropriate entry in the Register of Members'
Interests (and acknowledge that he had indeed done so several
months before Mr Birkett lodged his complaint). He has also apologised
for his oversight. In all the circumstances, including the fact
that Mr Spellar appears to have received no personal benefit,
we do not consider that any further action is necessary.
8. We also take this opportunity to remind Members
that the folders of guidance entitled 'Standards in the Commons',
issued recently by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards,
incorporate comprehensive guidance on both the requirements of
the House regarding registration and declaration of interests,
and on their obligations under PPERA in relation to the provisions
relating to the regulation of political donations. In cases where
these involve the provision of property, services or facilities
on other than commercial terms, Members may be well advised to
consult the Registrar of Members' Interests, if the interest is
not already registered, if there is a reasonable expectation that
the Electoral Commission will take the view that this constitutes
a recordable donation for the purposes of PPERA.
1 Donations made to Members for their use or benefit
in connection with any of their political activities are "controlled
donations" for the purposes of PPERA. Single donations, or
multiple controlled donations from the same donor in the same
calendar year, which exceed £1,000, must be reported to the
Electoral Commission as "recordable donations" within
a specified period. The Commission is required to maintain a register
of these, which is open to public inspection. Back
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