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HC 383 - The Standards System in the House of Commons

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Standards

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 0215081447

In January 2013 three lay members became part of a new Committee on Standards. As a result of the lay members' reflections on the experience of their first year in office the Committee on Standards decided to undertake a comprehensive review of the standards system in the House of Commons. There has been a decline in public trust, not just in politics but in other institutions. The expenses scandal played a significant part in reducing public trust, and the Committee do not underestimate its impact. It still has an immense effect on how MPs' activities are seen and reported. The majority of MPs carry out their tasks without any questions raised about the propriety of their actions. The growth in constituency case work suggests that while the public may distrust MPs in general, in practice they are willing to bring individual MPs their problems. MPs have a complex and multi-faceted role, and one of the lessons of the last year has been that there is little understanding of what MPs do, the rules governing their conduct, and the ways in which those rules are enforced. This Report is intended to increase that understanding, as well as to propose improvements. This report sets out the range of functions that an MP undertakes. It describes the various aspects of MPs' work and the limitations of their role. It acknowledges MPs need the freedom to decide their priorities within a potentially infinite workload. The Committee believes self-regulation, with external input, is the appropriate system.

Parliament and the Law

Author: Alexander Horne

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-02-22

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1509908722

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Parliament and the Law (Second Edition) is an edited collection of essays, supported by the UK's Study of Parliament Group, including contributions by leading constitutional lawyers, political scientists and parliamentary officials. It provides a wide-ranging overview of the ways in which the law applies to, and impacts upon, the UK Parliament, and it considers how recent changes to the UK's constitutional arrangements have affected Parliament as an institution. It includes authoritative discussion of a number of issues of topical concern, such as: the operation of parliamentary privilege, the powers of Parliament's select committees, parliamentary scrutiny, devolution, English Votes for English Laws, Members' conduct and the governance of both Houses. It also contains chapters on financial scrutiny, parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament and human rights, and the administration of justice. Aimed mainly at legal academics, practitioners, and political scientists, it will also be of interest to anyone who is curious about the many fascinating ways in which the law interacts with and influences the work, the constitutional status and the procedural arrangements of the Westminster Parliament.

The regulation of standards in British public life

Author: David Hine

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2016-03-02

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1784996467

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This is an analysis of the revolution of the last two decades that has built an extensive new regulatory apparatus governing British public ethics. The book sets the new machinery in the wider institutional framework of British government. Its main purpose is to understand the dilemmas of regulatory design that have emerged in each area examined.

Premature Disclosure of Select Committee Papers

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9780215525437

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This report, (HCP 1212, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215525437), contains conclusions on two cases referred to the Committee on Standards and Privileges by other committees of the House. The first case involved the unauthorised disclosure of two papers prepared for the European Scrutiny Committee by its legal adviser on the mandate for the inter-governmental conference which led to the Lisbon Treaty, and appeared in an article in the Daily Telegraph on 26 June 2007. The second involved the unauthorised disclosure of parts of a draft report prepared for the Home Affairs Committee on the Government's counter terrorism proposals which appeared in the Financial Times on 5 December 2007. The Standards Committee accepts the view that the disclosure of such internal committee papers constituted a substantial interference in their work.

Use of Pre-paid Envelopes and Official Stationery

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Standards and Privileges

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 16

ISBN-13: 9780215525253

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Use of pre-paid envelopes and official Stationery : Nineteenth report of session 2007-08, report and appendix, together with formal Minutes

HC 472 - Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Mr Jack Straw

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 0215087925

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An allegation of rape was made against Lord Brittan to South Yorkshire Police in November 2012. The incident was alleged to have occurred in 1967 in London. A police investigation then took place, involving a process of advice being sought at relevant points from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and a file of evidence first being submitted to the CPS in June 2014. However the CPS decided that the file submitted by the MPS did not meet the appropriate evidential criteria. Lord Brittan was suffering from cancer at the time of the investigation. He died in January 2015 without being informed the he had been cleared of any wrongdoing in regard to this case. Although the MPS had concluded that "there was not a strong case" against Lord Brittan, it had requested that the CPS review its decision and to consider changing the Director's Guidance to allow "significant public interest" to be taken into account when coming to decisions about whether a case should be referred to the CPS, where the evidential threshold is not satisfied or the case is borderline. The DPP expressed reluctance to consider making any change to the current criteria, because she believed that the requirement to meet the evidence threshold had to remain the first criterion for coming to a decision. The Committee agreed with this. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has requested that another police force review its investigation into the Lord Brittan case to ensure that it was "thorough, properly conducted and to identify good practice". This report explores the implications of the Commissioner's action points in detail.

Conduct of Mr George Osborne

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Standards and Privileges

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9780215520524

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The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards submitted a memorandum on his investigation of a complaint that Mr George Osborne failed to register certain donations in the Register of Members' Interests. These donations were made to the Conservative Party and used by the Party to support the cost of running his office as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. It became clear that many other members of the Shadow Cabinet used funds in this way, so this complaint has ramifications well beyond one entry in the Register. Mr Osborne believes that financial support received through a party to support work as a Shadow Minister does not constitute 'financial or material support as a Member of Parliament'. The Commissioner finds that there is no logical reason to differentiate between the different capacities in which MPs receive financial support, and upholds the complaint, but does not believe Mr Osborne should be criticised as the area was in need of clarification. He makes five recommendations which should regularise the position, and members of the Shadow Cabinet are given four weeks from publication of this report to amend their Register entries. The Committee agrees with the Commissioner's findings and recommendations.

Conduct of Mr Mark Hunter

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 9780215524102

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This report responds to a complaint arising from a survey relating to local National Health Service (NHS) services in Mr Hunter's constituency of Cheadle and carried out by Mr Hunter and funded from his Communications Allowance (CA). There were three elements to the complaint: that the survey contained material that should not have been included in a CA funded survey; that it should not have been circulated outside the constituency; and that publicity for the survey in a newsletter funded and circulated by his local party in one part of his constituency amounted to exploitation of the survey for party political purposes. The Committee agree with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards that the survey included an incorrect imprint which suggested that it was party rather parliamentary in origin and that the CA should not have been used to distribute the survey outside Mr Hunter's constituency. They also agreed that, by themselves, the breaches were not so serious as to cause us to conclude that his survey should not have been funded from the CA