Committee publishes report into the conduct of Lord Bassam
27 April 2018
The House of Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee has today published its report into the conduct of Lord Bassam.
- Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee: The conduct of Lord Bassam (HTML)
- Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee: The conduct of Lord Bassam (PDF)
Lord Bassam referred himself to the independent House of Lords Commissioner for Standards following media allegations that he had wrongly claimed Lords travel allowance (paid by the House) and the Lords Office-Holders Allowance (paid by the Cabinet Office).
The Commissioner investigated the case and saw no reason why Lord Bassam should not claim Lords Office-Holders Allowance as his home is outside London and he was therefore eligible to claim the allowance at the higher out of London rate.
The Commissioner found that Lord Bassam should have used the Office-Holders Allowance to cover some of his daily travel costs and therefore should not have claimed as much in Lords travel allowances as he did. In so claiming, Lord Bassam breached provisions in the House of Lords Code of Conduct requiring Members to “act in accordance with any rules agreed by the House in respect of financial support for members or the facilities of the House.”
The Commissioner found that there was a lack of clarity and guidance surrounding the relationship between the Lords Office-Holders Allowance and Lords travel allowance. She concluded that although Lord Bassam broke the Code of Conduct by making the claims he did so mistakenly not dishonestly, and therefore did not breach provisions requiring Members to act on their personal honour.
In its report the Privileges and Conduct Committee endorses the Commissioner's finding that Lord Bassam should repay £15,737 in overclaimed travel allowance and recommend that he should write a letter of apology to the Committee. Lord Bassam has written to the Committee to apologise and arrangements have been made for the money to be repaid. The Committee for Privileges and Conduct has sought reassurance that guidance will be clarified and procedures altered to ensure no similar confusion can arise in the future.
Further information
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