Commons Select Committee on Standards

Last updated

The Commons Select Committee on Standards is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Contents

History

The committee was created on 13 December 2012 as one half of the replacements for the Committee on Standards and Privileges. [1] Following the expenses scandal, it was considered desirable for lay members to provide oversight of standards of conduct of MPs, [2] but it was not considered proper for individuals who were not members of parliament to make decisions on parliamentary privilege. The Standards and Privileges Committee was therefore split in two, with MPs (including the chair) by convention being elected to serve on both committees simultaneously, but with an additional cohort of lay members sitting on the Standards Committee. [3] In 2020 the new Independent Expert Panel took over the select committee's responsibility for cases involving bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct by MPs.

In the wake of the Owen Paterson affair in November 2021, the Conservative government proposed removing the lay members entirely, which would leave the Conservatives with a majority of control on a newly re-constituted committee. MPs backed these reforms in a Common vote, as well as overturning the 30-day suspension of Paterson that had been recommended by the committee. However, these reforms were abandoned the following day amid widespread criticism, including from Conservative MPs. [4] Paterson subsequently resigned as an MP. [5]

Membership

The committee and its composition are regulated by House of Commons standing orders 149 and 149A, which specify that it shall consist of seven MPs and seven lay members. Lay members are permitted to serve a single six-year term and cannot ever have been members of either house of Parliament. Unlike membership of other select committees, lay membership of the Standards Committee is not terminated by a parliamentary dissolution. The role of chair of the committee is reserved for a member of the official opposition. The government Attorney General and Solicitor General have a right of attendance, but are not members. [3]

As of November 2023, the members on the committee are as follows: [6] [7]

MemberPartyConstituency
Dame Harriet Harman MP (Chair) Labour Camberwell and Peckham
Alberto Costa MP Conservative South Leicestershire
Philip Dunne MP Conservative Ludlow
Allan Dorans MP Scottish National Party Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
Sir Bernard Jenkin MP Conservative Harwich and North Essex
Yvonne Fovargue MP Labour Makerfield
Michael Ellis MP Conservative Northampton North
Tammy BanksLay member
Victoria SmithLay member
Rita DexterLay member
Mehmuda MianLay member
Michael MaguireLay member
Paul ThorogoodLay member
Vacant lay member position

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Betts</span> British Labour politician

Clive James Charles Betts is a British Labour Party politician and former economist. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield South East since 2010 having previously represented the constituency of Sheffield Attercliffe from 1992 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Gale</span> British Conservative politician

Sir Roger James Gale is a British politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for North Thanet since 1983. He had a career in journalism and broadcasting from 1964, around the same time as he joined the Conservative Party, until 1983. He was knighted in 2012. He was a prominent and vocal critic of Boris Johnson during his leadership of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Laing</span> British politician (born 1958)

Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing, is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Epping Forest constituency since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, Laing has served in the shadow cabinets of Michael Howard and David Cameron. Since 2013, Laing has served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons; and since 2020, as Chairman of Ways and Means, making her the senior Deputy Speaker, and the first woman to hold this post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen Paterson</span> British former politician

Owen William Paterson is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2012 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2012 to 2014 under Prime Minister David Cameron. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Shropshire from 1997 until his resignation in 2021. Paterson was also the President of the Northern Ireland Conservatives.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee is one of many select committees of the British House of Commons, which scrutinises the expenditure, administration and policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Walker</span> British Conservative politician

Robin Caspar Walker is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Worcester since 2010. He has chaired the House of Commons Education Select Committee since November 2022. He served as the Minister of State for School Standards from 2021 to 2022 and as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at both the Scotland Office and Northern Ireland Office under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he identifies as a one-nation Conservative.

In countries with a parliamentary system of government, contempt of parliament is the offence of obstructing the legislature in the carrying out of its functions, or in the hindering any legislator in the performance of their duties.

The Welsh Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Wales Office, as well as relations with the Senedd. The members of the committee are usually Welsh MPs.

The House of Commons Treasury Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee is responsible for examining and scrutinizing the expenditure, administration and policy of HM Treasury. This includes its agencies and associated bodies, including HM Revenue and Customs, the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Royal Mint.

The Committee of Selection is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Unlike the Commons' other select committees, the Committee of Selection exists by virtue of the House's Standing Orders for Private Business, its rules for bills that affect only specific organizations or individuals. Despite that, the committee is best known for appointing members of committees established under resolutions of the House and the Standing Orders for Public Business.

In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Members of Parliament (MPs) can be suspended from sitting in the House of Commons by the Speaker for "disorderly conduct". The Speaker can order an MP removed from the house until the end of the day. The speaker more often "names" an MP.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, or 'SCIPSA', is a body created under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 to scrutinise the UK's Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. The committee's purposes are to approve the members of IPSA and to scrutinize and approve its estimate. The chair and members of IPSA are selected on an Address to the King from the House of Commons, but the names are chosen by the Speaker with the agreement of SCIPSA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom</span>

Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of the House of Commons and House of Lords designed to ensure that parliamentarians are able to carry out their duties free from interference. The privileges are freedom of speech, freedom from arrest on civil matters, freedom of access to the sovereign, and that 'the most favourable construction should be placed on all the Houses' proceedings'. Fair and accurate reporting of the proceedings of parliament is also protected by parliamentary privilege.

The Commons Select Committee of Privileges is a Committee appointed by the House of Commons to consider specific matters relating to privileges referred to it by the House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recall of MPs Act 2015</span> United Kingdom constitutional legislation

The Recall of MPs Act 2015 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision for constituents to recall their member of Parliament (MP) and trigger a by-election. It received royal assent on 26 March 2015 after being introduced on 11 September 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Hoare</span> British politician (born 1969)

Simon James Hoare is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dorset since May 2015. He has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government since November 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Jenkinson</span> British Conservative politician

Mark Ian Jenkinson is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Richardson</span> British politician

Angela Joy Richardson is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as a Deputy Chairwoman of the Conservative Party since 26 March 2024 and as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford since the 2019 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Wakeford</span> British politician (born 1984)

Christian Wakeford is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South since the 2019 United Kingdom general election. Elected as a Conservative, he crossed the floor to Labour in 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Role - Committee on Standards - UK Parliament". Parliament UK. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Public picked for Standards Committee looking into MPs' conduct". BBC News. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Erskine May, Committees on Standards and Privileges". Erskine May. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "Boris Johnson to back bid to overturn Owen Paterson lobbying inquiry". the Guardian. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Owen Paterson resigns: Conservative ex-minister quits as MP after row over House of Commons suspension". Sky News. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  6. ↑ "Committee on Standards - Membership". UK Parliament. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Business without Debate Volume 742: debated on Monday 4 December 2023". hansard.parliament.uk/. UK Hansard. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023. That Andy Carter and Sir Charles Walker be discharged from the Committee on Standards and Philip Dunne and Sir Michael Ellis be added.—(Marcus Jones.)


Flag of the United Kingdom.svg

This article related to the politics of the United Kingdom, or its predecessor or constituent states, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.