Lords approves appointment of first Commissioner for Standards
2 June 2010
The House of Lords approved a motion to appoint Paul Kernaghan, former Chief Constable of Hampshire, as the first Lords Commissioner for Standards today.
Mr Kernaghan, who starts work immediately, said he was looking forward to taking up his responsibilities:
“The House has made many changes to its governance structures recently, with a strengthened Code of Conduct and new rules on financial support for Members. My appointment is designed to ensure that through independent investigation and transparency of process, the high standards that the House sets for itself and for individual Members will enjoy public confidence.”
As Lords Commissioner for Standards, Mr Kernaghan will investigate alleged breaches of the new Lords Code of Conduct, including breaches of the rules governing financial support available to Members and the use of parliamentary facilities by Members.
The position of an independent Lords Commissioner for Standards and the adoption of the new code are part of the wider reforms of governance structures in the House of Lords to ensure they meet public expectations of clarity, transparency and integrity.
- Read the full text of the House of Lords Code of Conduct (PDF 333 KB)
- Lords Hansard: Written statement: Commissioner for Standards