24. Letter to Rt Hon Andrew Mackay
from the Commissioner, 29 March 2010
Thank you for your letter of 25 March responding
to mine of 24 March with the advice from the Department of Resources.
I was most grateful for this prompt response. To
resolve the complaint against you, the issue I have to decide
is whether you were in breach of the rules of the House in the
identification of the property near Bromsgrove as your main home.
If I were to submit the matter to the Committee on Standards and
Privileges, it would need to decide whether it accepts my conclusions
and, if so, what, if any, action to take. The consideration of
complaints and the consideration of what, if any, penalty is appropriate
for a Member who has breached the rules are solely matters for
the complaints process. They cannot be resolved by the audit of
Members' expenses.
I have taken it from your letter that you do not
accept that you were in breach of the rules of the House in identifying
the Bromsgrove property as your main home and, therefore, making
claims on your London property. While I have so far considered
separately the complaint against you and the complaint against
your wife, Ms Julie Kirkbride MP, I believe it will be necessary
for me to come to a view on the propriety of the identification
of your main home before I can come to a conclusion on the complaint
against Ms Julie Kirkbride. This is because, if I were to find
that the property in her constituency was indeed your main home,
then I would need to consider whether she was acting within the
rules in claiming for the mortgage interest on the additional
mortgage taken out in order to build an extension to that home.
I will, therefore, need to explore with you why,
despite the findings of the audit and the outcome of the appeal
against the decisions from that audit, you consider that the identification
of your main home was within the rules of the House. I think that
this may best be achieved by our meeting so that I can take oral
evidence from you on this matter. I am, therefore, asking my office
to get in touch with yours to arrange a suitable date. I will
write to you in advance of our meeting to let you know a little
more about the procedure for such an interview and the main areas
I suggest we cover. I look forward to meeting you to take your
views on these matters.
29 March 2010
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