4. Procedure for Complaints
96. Complaints, whether from Members or from members
of the public, alleging that the conduct of a Member is incompatible
with the Code of Conduct or with this Guide, should be addressed
in writing to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Further
guidance on the complaints procedure is available in Procedural
Notes issued by the Commissioner. These are also posted on the
Parliamentary website.
97. Both the Commissioner and the Committee on Standards
and Privileges will be guided by the view of the former Select
Committee on Members' Interests that "it is not sufficient
to make an unsubstantiated allegation and expect the Committee
to assemble supporting evidence" and "that it would
not normally regard a complaint founded on no more than a newspaper
story or television report as a substantiated allegation".[42]
The Committee on Standards and Privileges has also made it
clear that it would expect the Commissioner to consult it before
accepting for investigation a complaint against a former member
or one which goes back more than seven years.
98. A number of areas are outside the Commissioner's
remit. As a result, he is unable to consider complaints about
policy matters or a Member's views or opinions, a Member's decision
about how to handle a constituent's case, the funding of political
parties, alleged breaches of the separate Code governing the conduct
of Government Ministers in their capacity as Ministers (the Ministerial
Code), and what Members do in their purely private and personal
lives. The Commissioner will not entertain anonymous complaints.
99. 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.
100. Communications between a member of the public
and the Commissioner are not covered by Parliamentary privilege
(and may not be privileged at law) unless and until the Commissioner
decides the case has some substance to merit further inquiry.
If he decides to the contrary, he may at his discretion reject
the complaint without further reference to the Committee. The
receipt of a complaint by the Commissioner is
not to be interpreted as an indication
does not imply that a prima facie case has been established.
101. If the Commissioner is satisfied that sufficient
evidence has been tendered in support of the complaint to justify
his taking the matter further, he will ask the Member to respond
to the complaint and will then conduct a preliminary investigation.
If he decides, after some inquiry, that there is no prima facie
case, or that the matter can be dealt with under the rectification
procedure, he will report that conclusion briefly to the Committee
on Standards and Privileges. If he finds that there is a prima
facie case or that the complaint raises issues of wider importance,
he will normally report the facts and his conclusions to the Committee.
102. In the case of admitted failures to register
or declare interests where the interest involved is minor or the
failure to register or declare was inadvertent, the Commissioner
has discretion to allow the Member to rectify the matter. In the
case of non-registration, rectification requires a belated entry
in the current Register, with an appropriate explanatory note;
in the case of non-declaration, it requires an apology to the
House by means of a point of order. In allowance cases the
rectification procedure requires the Member to make appropriate
repayment. Complaints of non-registration by Members' staff, All-Party
Groups and journalists may be treated in a similar way Any
rectification is reported briefly to the Committee.
103. The Committee on Standards and Privileges will
consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including
specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches of the Code
of Conduct or Guide to which the House has agreed and which have
been drawn to the Committee's attention by the Commissioner.
104. It is a requirement of the Code of Conduct
that Members cooperate, at all stages, with any investigation
into their conduct. It is also a requirement that Members do not
lobby members of the Committee on Standards and Privileges in
a manner calculated or intended to influence their consideration
of a complaint.
105. The Committee has power under its Standing Order
to send for persons, papers and records; to order the attendance
of any Member before it; and to require that specific documents
in the possession of a Member relating to its inquiries or to
the inquiries of the Commissioner be laid before it.
106. While it is the practice of the Committee to
deliberate in private, the Committee determines for itself whether
sessions at which evidence is to be taken shall be held publicly
or in private, and is empowered to refuse leave for the broadcasting
of any public sessions.
107. On specific complaints for which the Commissioner
has decided there is a prima facie case, the Committee will make
recommendations to the House on whether further action is required.
It may also report to the House on other complaints if it thinks
fit.
108. The Committee has said that where it feels 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.
[The existing Appendix to the Guide to the Rules,
setting out the principal Resolutions of the House relating to
the conduct of Members, will also be included in the final version,
and a revised index will also be included.]
42 Select Committee on Members' Interests, First Report,
Session 1992-93, HC 383, paragraph 4. The Commissioner will not
entertain anonymous complaints. Back
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