Appendix 2: Description of the Arrangements
for Regulating Standards of Conduct in the House of Commons
1. Like many other aspects of the United Kingdom
political system, the arrangements for regulating standards in
the House of Commons have developed over time and often in response
to particular events. As long ago as 1695, the House of Commons
passed a resolution declaring bribery of Members a high crime
and misdemeanour. For centuries thereafter, misconduct by Members
was handled ad hoc and often informally as it arose (which was
relatively rarely). In 1858, the House passed a Resolution prohibiting
advocacy for fee or reward and in 1947 a further resolution banning
Members from entering contracts or agreements which restrict their
freedom to act and speak, or require them to act as a representative
of outside bodies.
2. A resolution of 1974 confirmed a long-standing
convention that relevant pecuniary (i.e. financial) interests
should be declared in the House and its Committees, and in communications
with Ministers and officials. The first Register of Members' Interests
was created in 1975 (following the Poulson case). Rules about
registering or declaring interests developed gradually thereafter
and were first codified and substantially revised in 1992.
3. The key features of the present arrangements
came into being in 1995 following recommendations by the Committee
on Standards in Public Life (at the time chaired by Lord Nolan)
and the Select Committee of the House on Standards in Public Life.
These recommendations were for:
- a new Code of Conduct for MPs;
- an improved Register of Members' Interests;
- an independent Parliamentary Commissioner for
Standards;
- a strengthened Committee on Standards and Privileges.
The first Commissioner (Sir Gordon Downey) was appointed
in 1995 and a Code of Conduct for Members was approved by the
House and published the following year.
Principles
4. The nature of the arrangements reflects a
concern to ensure effective machinery for upholding high standards
of conduct, containing a strong independent element, whilst preserving
Parliament's control over its own affairs. For centuries, Parliament
fought to establish its right to control its own affairs, free
from interference by either the Monarch or the courts. This freedom
was confirmed by Article 9 of the Bill of Rights of 1689 which
provided:
"That the Freedom of Speech and Debates or
Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned
in any Court or Place out of Parliament."
5. The House's right to discipline its own Members
is a central element in this. As the Committee on Standards in
Public Life observed in 1995 when recommending the present arrangements:
"The House collectively has a responsibility
to safeguard the public interest against the possible misjudgements
of individual Members, and it has the ability to do so. It also
needs to reassert forcefully to the public that Members of Parliament,
collectively and individually, have a sense of both the responsibilities
and the dignity of the role with which they are entrusted. We
believe that the House can do this itself, and that the package
which we set out below will help to do so. It is a powerful and
flexible mixture of disclosure and enforcement which will serve
the public interest better than the inflexibility of statutory
procedures." [48]
6. The system for upholding standards of conduct
in Parliament is often described as one of 'self-regulation'.
This is, however, a substantial over-simplification. It is correct
in the sense that the House of Commons retains the ultimate responsibility
for deciding the shape of the system and for disposing of individual
cases arising under it. It is incorrect, however, in so far as
the decision whether to investigate a complaint, as well as a
recommendation on findings, are the responsibility of an independent
Commissioner. The reports of his investigations and the subsequent
reports of the Committee on Standards and Privileges to the House
are published. When the House needs to debate such reports, it
invariably does so in public. The effectiveness of the arrangements
as a whole is also open to periodic review by the independent
Committee on Standards in Public Life.
7. In this context, it is worth noting that the
immunity of an individual Member of Parliament from legal action
in the courts is more limited than the immunity given to parliamentarians
in many other legislative assemblies, being restricted to proceedings
in Parliament (that is, broadly to participation in debates in
the House, in Committees and other forms of proceeding). In other
respects, an MP stands in the same position in relation to the
law as does any other citizen.
8. Members, individually and collectively, are
ultimately and regularly subject to the judgement of their fellow
citizens through the ballot box. As past events have shown, this
can be an effective final sanction.
The Key Elements in the System
1 The Code of Conduct
9. The Code of Conduct applies to Members in
all aspects of their public life, not in their purely private
and personal lives. It is relatively short, incorporating the
substance of various resolutions on conduct passed by the House
and the Nolan Committee's 'seven principles of public life'. Its
purpose is "to assist Members in the discharge of their obligations
to the House, their constituents and the public at large by:
a) Providing guidance on the standards of conduct
expected of Members in discharging their parliamentary and public
duties, and in so doing
b) providing the openness and accountability
necessary to reinforce public confidence in the way in which Members
perform those duties."
10. The text of the Code can be found at www.parliament.uk/about_commons/pcfs. cfm.
In summary, it requires Members to:
- uphold the law and the Constitution;
- act always in the public, not their own personal
interest, and to resolve at once any conflict between the two
in favour of the former;
- strengthen confidence in Parliament, not bring
the House or its Members into disrepute;
- never accept a bribe, act as a paid advocate
or misuse expenses, allowances, facilities or services provided
from the public purse;
- never misuse information they receive in confidence
in the course of their parliamentary duties;
- observe the House's Rules, e.g. as regards the
registration and declaration of interests;
- and in carrying out their parliamentary and public
duties, to observe the seven principles of public life, as set
out in the first report of the Committee on Standards in Public
Life.
The Code also requires Members to cooperate, at all
stages, with any investigation into their conduct by or under
the authority of the House.
2 The Register of Members' Interests
11. The main purpose of the Register is:
"To provide information of any pecuniary
interest or other material benefit which a Member receives which
might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her
actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or actions taken in
his or her capacity as a Member of Parliament and such other
information as the House may from time to time require"
[49]
12. The appearance of an entry in the Register
simply constitutes a record of a registrable interest. It implies
no element of judgement on the substance of the interest. The
purpose of registration is openness, to give other Members and
the public the opportunity to know about interests which may be
thought to influence a Member's actions in his or her parliamentary
capacity, and to make their own assessment of their significance.
The Rules on registration lay down, essentially as an administrative
convenience, 10 categories of interest to be registered. They
also place Members under a more general obligation to keep the
overall purpose of the Register in mind when registering or declaring
an interest.
13. The obligation to declare relevant interests
in a debate or committee proceeding is not restricted to those
interests which are the subject of an entry in the Register. It
also includes interests which have been held in the recent past
or of which the Member has a reasonable expectation in the future,
and Members are advised to declare certain non-registrable interests
where relevant.
14. In addition to registering and declaring
their interests, Members are also prohibited from advocating a
course of action in proceedings in the House or in approaching
Government Ministers or officials which would exclusively benefit
a body (or individual) in which they have a financial interest
(the 'advocacy rule').
15. The Register is compiled afresh at the start
of every Parliament or following a major revision of the Rules.
One bound, printed edition is published every year and the text
is also available on the web-site at www.parliament.uk/about_commons/pcfs.cfm
or at the House for Members or the public to study. In addition,
the Register is updated every two weeks while the House is sitting
to include fresh information supplied by Members. The text of
these updated editions is also published on the web-site, and
is available, by appointment, for inspection in hard copy form.
3 The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
16. The Commissioner is the independent element
in the system for regulating standards in the House of Commons.
Whilst he or she is an officer appointed pursuant to a Resolution
of the House, he or she is expected to act independently in discharging
his or her responsibilities. The duties of the Commissioner are
embodied in Standing Order No.150. The main duties are:
- overseeing the maintenance
of the Register of Members' Interests and the other registers
of interests for Members' staff, journalists and All-Party Groups;
- with the Registrar of Members' Interests, advising
on the registration and declaration of interests;
- advising the Committee on Standards and Privileges
on the interpretation of the Code of Conduct;
- monitoring the operation of the Code and registers
and making recommendations to the Committee thereon;
- receiving, investigating and reporting to the
Committee on complaints against Members.
The Commissioner is appointed for a five year, non-renewable
term and is not liable to dismissal except on a resolution of
the House.
4 The Committee on Standards and Privileges
17. Standing Order No.149 places on the Committee
on Standards and Privileges the responsibility:
- to oversee the work of the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards; to examine the arrangements
proposed by the Commissioner for the compilation, maintenance
and accessibility of the Register of Members' Interests and any
other registers of interest established by the House; to review
from time to time the form and content of those registers; and
to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering
or declaring of interests which are referred to it by the Commissioner;
and
- to consider any matter relating to the conduct
of Members, including specific complaints in relation to alleged
breaches in any code of conduct to which the House has agreed
and which have been drawn to the committee's attention by the
Commissioner; and to recommend any modifications to such code
of conduct as may from time to time appear to be necessary.
The Committee is also responsible for considering
specific matters relating to privileges referred to it by the
House.
18. The Committee formally consists of 10 Members,
five drawn from the party of government and five from the opposition
parties. Its Chairman is a senior opposition Member.
48 Cm 2850, paragraph 59 Back
49
Select Committee on Members' Interests, First Report of Session
1991-2, HC 236 paragraph 27, and HC Deb 27 March 2008, cols 382-394.
The addition agreed on 27 March 2008 has been shown underlined Back
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