Committee seeks the views of people outside Westminster
13 December 2016
The Committee on Standards visited Cardiff, Guildford and Birmingham to host discussions about the standards expected of Members of Parliament. The discussions will feed into the ongoing review of the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules, which is being carried out by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Standards expected of MPs
Committee members attended and led each discussion. Each of the three discussions followed the same format. Participants were broken up into groups of 3-6 people, and each group considered three questions in turn. The discussions concluded with a plenary session, in which each group summarised the gist of its thoughts on the questions and invited the other groups to comment on them.
The questions were:
- The House of Commons is looking at how the seven Nolan principles (selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership) apply to the role of an MP. Which of these do you think are appropriate for MPs and can you give examples of the type of conduct which best fits each principle?
- What measures could be taken to increase public confidence in standards in the House of Commons?
- What are the benefits and disadvantages of MPs having outside interests or employment? What rules should apply?
Photographs of each event were tweeted live:
The Committee on Standards would like express its gratitude to everyone who participated in the discussions, and also to the helpful staff at each of the venues: Cardiff and Vale College, Guildford Institute and Library of Birmingham.