Independent Expert Panel recommends withdrawing the right of Mr Jared O’Mara to hold a former Member’s pass
19 April 2021
The Independent Expert Panel has today published a report recommending the right of Mr Jared O’Mara, formerly the Member for Sheffield Hallam, to hold a former Member’s pass should be withdrawn.
On 30 July 2019, Mr O’Mara’s former employee Ms Jennifer Barnes raised a formal complaint under Parliament’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. She complained that she had received inappropriate messages and approaches from Mr O’Mara, through various media during the period during June and July of 2019. These were in breach of the Sexual Misconduct Policy.
The Commissioner for Standards found that Mr O’Mara had acted in breach of Parliament’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. Mr O’Mara did not appeal this decision.
The Panel recommended that the right of Mr O’Mara to hold a former Member’s pass should be withdrawn and wrote to the Speaker to seek his agreement to this recommendation. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, has confirmed that he is content with this recommendation.
Sir Stephen Irwin, Chair of the IEP has said: “The Panel makes its decisions guided by the principles of natural justice, fairness for all parties, transparency and proportionality. We understand the seriousness of, and the harm caused by, bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct. We are rigorously independent, impartial and objective, acting without any political input or influence.”
The Panel, which MPs agreed to establish on 23 June 2020, determines appeals and sanctions in cases where complaints have been brought against MPs of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).
The Panel is entirely independent, with no MPs taking part in its decisions. It was appointed on Wednesday 25 November in a motion approved by the House of Commons.
Report
The Panel
The members of the IEP are as follows: Mrs Lisa Ball, Monica Daley, Mrs Johanna Higgins, Sir Stephen Irwin (Chair), Professor Clare McGlynn, Miss Dale Simon, Sir Peter Thornton, Dr Matthew Vickers
Further details of the members can be found on the IEP webpages here.
Read the 23 June 2020 debate on the IEP in Hansard.