THIRD REPORT OF SESSION
2007-08 FROM THE HOUSE COMMITTEE
FUNDING OF INTER-PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS
1. The Treasury currently funds four inter-parliamentary
Groups: the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch (CPA),
the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the
British-American Parliamentary Group (BAPG) and the British-Irish
Inter-Parliamentary Body (BIIPB). The grants-in-aid for the four
Groups for the financial year 2007/08 will amount to £3.3
million. Following the announcement by the Treasury that the Groups'
funding would be cut by 5% per annum in real terms over the period
covered by the latest Comprehensive Spending Review, the Groups
invited Parliament to take over responsibility for their funding.
2. The Committee agreed in principle at
its meeting in November to provide 30% of the funding for the
four parliamentary Groups, subject to proper budgetary and governance
controls, and provided that this would not set a precedent for
other groups to seek funding in this way. In December the House
of Commons Commission agreed to provide 70% of the funding for
the Groups and set detailed financial terms.
3. On the basis of a more detailed proposal presented
at its meeting in January (see appendix), the House Committee
adopted the same financial terms as the House of Commons Commission.
However, the Committee was concerned that recent participation
by members in delegations and on the executive committees of the
four Groups was somewhat less than 30%. The Committee agreed that
the participation of members of the House of Lords in the activities
of the Groups and their executive committees should be commensurate
with the funding to be provided by the House, and therefore not
less than 30% over the course of a year.
4. The Committee agreed that:
i. 30% of the funding of the four inter-parliamentary
Groups should be transferred from the Treasury to the House of
Lords and that grants-in-aid should be made to the Groups with
effect from the start of the 2008-09 financial year;
ii. any future liability arising from events
before 31 March 2008 should remain the responsibility of the Treasury;
iii. a financial memorandum should be drawn up
with each of the Groups on similar terms to the existing memoranda
with the Treasury;
iv. if in future the House decided to make overall
reductions in spending, the same reductions should apply to the
Groups' grants-in-aid and (with the exception of separately authorised
additional expenditure in relation to hosting of inter-parliamentary
conferences) any annual increase in grants should be no more than
the Retail Prices Index (RPI);
v. the use to which grants-in aid are put shall
be subject to audit or value for money studies reporting to the
Audit Committee;
vi. in order to protect the reputation of the
House, the House shall at some future stage, apply to the grants-in-aid
rules similar to those which apply to select committee and delegation
travel;
vii. there should be no change in the status
of the staff of the Groups and the House would not assume any
additional responsibilities for the staff of the Groups;
viii. the House Committee shall appoint to the
Executive Committee of each Group a senior official of the House
to represent the House's interests;
ix. the participation of members of the House
of Lords in the activities of the Groups and their executive committees
should be not less than 30% over a year.
5. The House is invited to agree to paragraph
4.
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