26. LETTER
TO
RT
HON
JACQUI
SMITH
MP FROM
THE
COMMISSIONER,
21 JULY
2009
Thank you very much for your letter of 14 July with
your response to the analysis of the Metropolitan Police Service
which I sent you on 7 July.
If you agree, I suggest the objective is to produce
the best estimate we can of the pattern of your overnight stays.
But they are no more than best estimates, based on all the evidence
we have been able to produce. I agree that it is reasonable to
check the police analysis, which, as you say, was produced for
a different purpose, against your Ministerial and private diaries.
Equally, where those diaries are not able (entirely understandably)
to produce evidence which clearly points to the location of you
overnight stay, then I suggest that the police analysis should
be given weight.
I have carefully gone over the analysis in your letter
on that basis. I propose to accept your analysis where the comments
you have made substantiate the amendment to the location which
you propose. Where, however, you have not been able to provide
evidence, I think it would be right to accept the police analysis.
And there are two dates when no amendment is needed since we have
made it already. These are 13 February 2008 and 7 January 2009.
You will see from their letter of 3 July that the police were
unable to supply firm information for these dates. I had, therefore,
already classed 13 February 2008 as a London night and 7 January
2009 as a constituency night.
On that basis, I attach a revised schedule which
I hope we can accept as the best estimate of your pattern of overnight
stays in each of the years in question. The result is that my
figures show a difference between London and your constituency
of three more nights than your figures suggest for 2007-08 and
four nights more for 2008-09. But, taking account of your final
table, which differs a little from your chart, the conclusions
are the same as you have suggested—for 2007-08, 13 more
nights in your constituency than in London for the period beginning
28 June 2007, but one more night in London than in the constituency
for the whole year. And for 2008-09, 18 more nights in the constituency
than in London.
For the reasons I have set out in this letter, I
hope that we can agree to this analysis as the best estimate we
can make of the pattern of your overnight stays over the relevant
years. I would be grateful if you could confirm your agreement—and,
of course, let me have any further comments you may wish to make.
I am grateful that you have agreed to a meeting for
an interview at 3 pm on Tuesday 1 September. Subject to that interview,
I would hope that will conclude my inquiry. I would write to you
during August to let you have in advance the areas which I suggest
we need to discuss.
As you know, I have been considering whether I should
submit a memorandum to the Committee on Standards and Privileges
following my inquiries into this complaint. I have decided that
I should do so. You should draw no inferences from this decision.
I have decided also that I should cover in that memorandum the
separate complaint about the claims you made for your media package.
I would propose to ask you about that at the same interview and,
again, would give you notice of the areas I suggest we cover.
I am grateful for your help with this complaint and
hope that we can now move to concluding the work on it. I look
forward to hearing from you.
Analysis of where Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP spent
her nights
| Total London
| Total Redditch
| Total elsewhere
| Total for year
| Difference between London and Redditch nights
|
1. 2005-06 (from 11 May)
Number of nights (diary estimate)
|
139 |
128 |
58
|
325 |
11 |
2. 2006-07
Number of nights (diary estimate)
|
151 |
131
|
83 |
365
|
20 |
3. 2007-08
a. Number of nights (from diary estimate) (up to and including 27 June)
b. Number of nights (from diary estimate) (from 28 June)
c. Total nights from diary estimate (a+b)
d. Police analysis for nights from 28 June
e. Member's figures (corrected) for nights from 28 June
f. Proposed figures for nights from 28 June
G. PROPOSED REVISED TOTAL (A +f)
|
43
114
157
102
111
109
152
|
29
116
145
128
121
122
151
|
16
48
64
63
|
88
278
366
366
|
14
-2
12
-26
-10
-13
1
|
4. 2008-09
a. Number of nights (diary estimate)
b. Police analysis
c. Member's figures (corrected)
D. PROPOSED FIGURES
|
145
137
144
143
|
154
174
158
161
|
66
54
63
61
|
365
365
365
365
|
-9
-37
-14
-18
|
Note 1: The table shows police figures of 102 nights in London
in 2007-08, and 174 in the constituency in 2008-9
Note 2: Agreed figures for 2007-08 have been broken down into
those relating to the period up to and including 27 June, and
those for the period beginning 28 June. This is to aid comparison
with the police figures, which relate only to the latter period.
21 July 2009
| 
