Annual Report 2012-13 - Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Contents


4  Registers of interests for Members, Members' Secretaries and Research Assistants, Journalists and All-Party Groups

Introduction

66.  The Commissioner's office is responsible for compiling the four registers of interest required by the House, which are:

  • the Register of Members' Financial Interests;
  • the Register of Interests of Members' Secretaries and Research Assistants;
  • the Register of Journalists; and
  • the Register of All-Party Groups.

The registers provide a publicly available record of the interests which might be thought to influence a Member in his or her parliamentary capacity, or to influence the actions of other holders of a parliamentary pass.

67.  All four Registers are published electronically on the parliamentary website. The Members' Register is updated electronically on the parliamentary website every two weeks while the House is sitting, and less frequently during recess. The other three Registers are published every six weeks. Enquirers can also inspect print-outs of the current edition of each Register, by appointment, and they can arrange to see earlier editions of the Registers which do not appear on the parliamentary website.

Register of Members' Financial Interests

68.  The main purpose of this Register is

"to provide information of any financial 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."[23]

69.  During 2012-13 my office published 18 online updates to the Register. The Register is also published in hard copy once every twelve months, usually in January. The third printed Register of the 2010 Parliament was published on 18 January 2013.

70.  The House has decided that Members should register changes to their interests within 28 days. We therefore attach considerable importance to timely and accurate registration. Late and incomplete registration can result in the House and the general public lacking relevant information about a Member's financial interests, and Members are regularly reminded of this. Since the Electoral Commission draw from the Members' Register the information which it publishes about donations to Members, it can also result in inaccuracies and omissions in the information on the Electoral Commission website.

71.   Maintaining the Members' Register involves checking for completeness the draft entries which Members send us, which are then formatted and entered in the Register. The registration team also remove items from the Register when they are time expired. One-off interests remain in the Register for twelve months after registration, and continuing interests for twelve months after the interest has ceased.

72.  During the year the registry staff delivered briefings on registration requirements to four meetings of Members in party groupings, and to another four seminars for Members' staff. These briefings were reinforced, when required, by the circulation of reminders and guidance to Members on topical issues; and by the individually tailored advice which the Registrar and her staff provided via e-mail, telephone or in person to individual Members.

Register of Interests of Members' Secretaries and Research Assistants

73.  Those holding a parliamentary pass as a Member's secretary or research assistant are required to record their details in the Register of Interests of Members' Secretaries and Research Assistants. Such staff are required to register any other occupation from which they receive income of more than 0.5% of a Member's salary (£329 until 31 March 2013) in the course of a calendar year, if that occupation is in any way advantaged by the privileged access to Parliament afforded by their pass. They also have to register any tangible gift (e.g. glassware) and any other benefit (e.g. hospitality, services or facilities provided) which they receive, if the value of the gift or benefit exceeds that sum and the gift or benefit relates in any way to their work in Parliament.

74.  The number of registered staff on 31 March 2013 was 1857, a slight increase on the 1784 staff who were registered on 31 March 2012. The number of those staff with registered interests was 359 on 31 March 2013, again a slight increase on the 352 staff with registered interests on 31 March 2012. My office published eight editions of the Staff Register in 2012-13.

RECENT CHANGES TO THE RULES

75.  Following security concerns raised by a Member about the requirement for Members' staff to disclose participation in the Reserve Forces, the Committee on Standards and Privileges ruled on 18 December 2012 that the rules should not in future be interpreted as requiring registration of such participation.

Register of All-Party Groups

76.  The membership of All-Party Groups (APGs) consists mainly of backbench Members of the House of Commons and Members of the House of Lords but may also include Ministers and non-parliamentarians. There are two types of groups: subject groups and country groups.

77.  The number of registered groups was 581 on 31 March 2013, of which 134 were country groups (23% of the total) and 447 were subject groups (77% of the total). This was a slight increase on the 568 registered groups on 31 March 2012, of which 136 were country groups (24% of the total) and 432 were subject groups (76% of the total). The number of groups with registered financial or material benefits was 386 on 31 March 2013, slightly fewer than the 401 registered with benefits on 31 March 2012. My office published eight editions of the Groups' Register in 2012-13.

PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE RULES ON ALL-PARTY GROUPS

78.  In his Report on the financial year 2011-12, my predecessor said that the Speakers of both Houses had established a Working Group to review Parliament's arrangements for All-Party Groups. This Working Group reported in June 2012. In its Report the Group recommended a number of changes, including:

  • the establishment of a panel of Members from both Houses to advise on possible new Groups;
  • the publication of accounts by all those Groups which receive benefits of more than £3,300 in a calendar year;
  • reducing from £1,500 to £660 (or according to future registration thresholds in the Members' Register) the financial thresholds for registering benefits provided to Groups;
  • an end to the status of Associate All-Party Group, which presently allows voting rights to non-parliamentarians;
  • increasing the quorum for a Group's meeting from 3 to 5;
  • introducing a requirement for Groups to produce and make available minutes of their meetings;
  • a new requirement to elect officers by secret ballot on any occasion when the election is contested or if any officer seeks re-election for a third or further term;
  • ending the arrangement which allowed Groups to use the crowned portcullis on their reports, websites and correspondence;
  • exploring standard wording for the cover pages of Groups' reports, in order to minimise the possibility of their being confused with Select Committee reports;
  • introducing a more stringent test of eligibility before Group staff are given a security pass for the purposes of their work.

79.  In December 2012 the Standards and Privileges Committee wrote to the Speaker, expressing their agreement with the Working Group's recommendations on the need for greater transparency but warning against more stringent monitoring which, in the Committee's view, and that of the Administration Committee, would run the risk of appearing to give APGs an official status which they do not have. The two Committees recommended further fact-finding in order to establish the impact the Working Group's recommendations would have on existing Groups. The Standards Committee therefore launched an inquiry and commissioned a joint electronic survey in March 2013. At the time of writing the results of the survey are under consideration. More details about the Committee's inquiry are available on its web pages.[24]

Register of Journalists' Interests

80.  Any individual who holds a pass as a lobby journalist accredited to the Parliamentary Press Gallery or for parliamentary broadcasting is required to record in this Register certain occupations or employment which are advantaged by the privileged access to Parliament afforded by their pass. The registration requirement is subject to an income threshold equivalent to more than 1% of a Member's salary from the same source in the course of a calendar year (£657 until 31 March 2013).

81.  The number of registered journalists on 31 March 2013 was 405, slightly fewer than the 410 registered on 31 March 2012. The number of journalists with registered interests was 55 on 31 March 2013, again slightly fewer than the 62 who had registered interests on 31 March 2012. My office published eight editions of the Journalists' Register in 2012-13.

Complaints relating to the registration and declaration of interests in the Staff, Journalist and All-Party Group Registers

82.  Complaints alleging that a Member's secretary or researcher, a parliamentary journalist or an All-Party Group has breached the rules governing the Registers are in the first instance considered by the Registrar of Members' Financial Interests.

83.  During 2012-13 my office received four complaints about All-Party Groups. These all related to the remit of one particular group. None of the complaints was accepted for inquiry because, under the rules, each Group is free to determine its own remit. The complaints therefore did not concern a breach of the rules. We received no complaints about the Registers of Members' staff or parliamentary journalists.



23   HC Deb 27 March 2008, Cols 382-394 Back

24   http://www.parliament.uk/standards/ Back


 
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