Privileges and Conduct Committee publishes report on Code of Conduct
12 May 2014
The House of Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee has published a report recommending changes to the Code of Conduct.
The Committee is the body charged with overseeing the operation of the House of Lords Code of Conduct. It recommends the following changes.
- A Member sentenced to a term of imprisonment should be deemed to have breached the Code of Conduct. The case would be passed to the Sub-Committee on Lords’ Conduct to recommend a sanction. This would sit alongside the provisions of the House of Lords Reform (No. 2) Bill, often referred to as the Byles Bill which provides for the expulsion of a member sentenced to imprisonment for more than a year, and would apply even where the Member is sentenced to imprisonment for a year or less.
- When signing to claim for the daily allowance, Members should give an explicit written undertaking that in doing so they are “acting on their personal honour”.
- A new Code of Conduct for Members’ Staff should be introduced, including a requirement to register all employment, any financial interest in businesses or organisations involved in parliamentary lobbying and any gifts received above £140 in value that arise from their work in Parliament. The Code will also require Members’ staff to abstain from lobbying or using access to Parliament to further outside interests in return for payment or other reward. Breaches of the Code could result in the individual’s parliamentary pass being removed.
In recent months, the House has agreed various amendments which have tightened the Code of Conduct. In January the House introduced two new sanctions for breaches of the Code of Conduct: denial of access for a specified period to the system of financial support for Members; and denial of access for a specified period to the facilities of the House. These penalties cannot be applied to breaches of the Code which occurred prior to their introduction, including those Lord Hanningfield has been found to have committed.
In March the House approved a report which set out a new offence of expressing a clear willingness to breach the Code of Conduct, gave new guidance to Members on how to deal with lobbyists, reduced the threshold for Members having to register gifts, benefits and hospitality, and gave the Commissioner power to investigate conduct that occurred more than four years before a complaint was made.
The Committee’s recommendations must now be approved by the House of Lords. The House will be asked to approve the report on Tuesday 13 May.