4. Letter to Mr Anthony Steen from the
Commissioner
I enclose a copy of a letter I have received from
Mr Clayton in which he alleges that you have improperly used your
Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) to fund a newsletter to your
constituents which includes remarks which contravene the prohibition
in the rules attaching to this allowance on campaigning on behalf
of a political party or cause. Also enclosed is a copy of the
newsletter itself.
It appears from the box at the bottom of page 3 of
the newsletter that its printing and publication (though not its
distribution) were funded from the IEP.
As you know, the Code of Conduct for Members provides
that:
"No improper use shall be made of any payment
or allowance made to Members for public purposes and the administrative
rules which apply to such payments and allowances must be strictly
observed."
The rules attaching to the IEP set out in the Green
Book make clear that the allowance must be used solely to fund
expenditure "wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred
on Parliamentary duties" and that it cannot be used to meet
"the costs of party political activities or campaigning".
Printing and sending newsletters is allowable expenditure "provided
that these meet Departmental standards and do not amount to political
campaigning".
The statement in the newsletter to which Mr Clayton
takes particular exception is in the shaded box at the bottom
right of page 1 and reads: "Lib Dem £100 cash back gimmick
is no answer to our spiralling council tax bills".
This appears to be linked to a sentence in the main
article on page 1 which reads: "the Lib Dems need their collective
heads examined in their naive belief that a £100 cash back
scheme, which they promised each council tax payer, is any solution".
I enclose a note which sets out the procedure I follow
when considering a complaint. In accordance with this I should
be grateful for your comments on Mr Clayton's complaint. I am
also in touch with the House's Department of Finance and Administration
about the issues raised, and when I have your comments and theirs
will write again once I have been able to consider what you say.
3 August 2004
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