House of Lords written statement – made at on 24 June 2009.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, House of Lords, Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
My Right Honourable Friend the Leader of the House of Commons (Harriet Harman) has made the following Statement.
My Right Honourable 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 who 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 12 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 £5,000; andbreaching the rules which prohibit paid advocacy, for which the maximum penalty is a fine of up to £5,000.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.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
When speaking in the House of Commons, an MP will refer to another MP of the same party who is a member of the Privy Council as "my Right Honourable Friend"
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Right Honourable is a form of address used within the House of Commons, for members of the Privy Council. Members of the person’s own party will refer to them as ‘My Right Honourable Friend, the member for [constituency]’. Members of other parties will refer to them as ‘The Right Honourable Lady/Gentleman, the member for [constituency]’. The Privy Council consists of, among others, Cabinet ministers and a number of junior ministers as well as former office holders.
The Speaker is an MP who has been elected to act as Chairman during debates in the House of Commons. He or she is responsible for ensuring that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying out of its business are observed. It is the Speaker who calls MPs to speak, and maintains order in the House. He or she acts as the House's representative in its relations with outside bodies and the other elements of Parliament such as the Lords and the Monarch. The Speaker is also responsible for protecting the interests of minorities in the House. He or she must ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their view without undue obstruction. It is also the Speaker who reprimands, on behalf of the House, an MP brought to the Bar of the House. In the case of disobedience the Speaker can 'name' an MP which results in their suspension from the House for a period. The Speaker must be impartial in all matters. He or she is elected by MPs in the House of Commons but then ceases to be involved in party politics. All sides in the House rely on the Speaker's disinterest. Even after retirement a former Speaker will not take part in political issues. Taking on the office means losing close contact with old colleagues and keeping apart from all groups and interests, even avoiding using the House of Commons dining rooms or bars. The Speaker continues as a Member of Parliament dealing with constituent's letters and problems. By tradition other candidates from the major parties do not contest the Speaker's seat at a General Election. The Speakership dates back to 1377 when Sir Thomas Hungerford was appointed to the role. The title Speaker comes from the fact that the Speaker was the official spokesman of the House of Commons to the Monarch. In the early years of the office, several Speakers suffered violent deaths when they presented unwelcome news to the King. Further information can be obtained from factsheet M2 on the UK Parliament website.
