Tuesday 23 June 2009

                            WRITTEN MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

                                  Parliamentary Standards

The Leader of the House of Commons (Ms Harriet Harman): My Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and I have today presented to Parliament the Parliamentary Standards Bill.
 
We are grateful for the constructive cross-party discussions that preceded the Bill's introduction. This Bill is the first stage of legislation and covers the specific but important and urgent task of setting up an independent authority. There is likely to be subsequent legislation where this is judged necessary, not least in the light of further cross-party discussions.
 
The Bill will create a new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) to regulate the system of allowances, set rules to deal with financial interests and put the requirement for a code of conduct for MPs on a statutory footing.
 
The IPSA will be independent of Parliament and will have the power to set an allowances and expenses system without requiring Parliamentary approval. It will regulate and oversee Members' expense claims and oversee the new allowance system.
 
The Bill will establish a Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations that will have the power to conduct investigations and report to the IPSA. The IPSA will be able when necessary to direct those who have received allowances they were not entitled to to repay money. In addition the IPSA will be able to direct an MP to amend his or her entries in the register of financial interests.
 
The IPSA will be able to recommend that the House exercises its disciplinary powers to withhold a salary for a specified period, suspend a Member from the House for a specified period or expel a Member from the House.
 
The IPSA also has the power to refer matters to the police. The Bill will create new criminal offences of:

. knowingly providing false or misleading information in a claim for an allowance, for which the maximum sanction is up to twelve months custodial sentence or an unlimited fine;

. failing without reasonable excuse to comply with the rules on registration, for which the maximum penalty is a fine of up to £5000;

. and breaching the rules which prohibit paid advocacy, for which the maximum penalty is a fine of up to £5000.
 
The IPSA will work transparently and the Freedom of Information Act will apply both to the IPSA and to the Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations.
 
The IPSA will be made up of four members and a Chair. Selection to the Authority will be on merit and by fair and open competition. A candidate for appointment as the Chair or as a member must be selected by the Speaker of the House of Commons with the agreement of the Speaker's Committee set up by the Bill

The Bill, together with explanatory notes, is available to Members from the Vote Office.