Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards explained
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards. The current commissioner is Daniel Greenberg.
Duties
The commissioner is in charge of regulating MPs' conduct and propriety.[1] One of the commissioner's main tasks is overseeing the Register of Members' Financial Interests, which is intended to ensure disclosure of financial interests that may be of relevance to MPs' work.[2]
The Commissioner is the decision-maker in cases from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme where the respondent is a Member of Parliament. If the Commissioner deems a sanction warranted, they refer cases to the Independent Expert Panel so the appropriate sanction can be determined.[3]
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is appointed by a resolution of the House of Commons for a fixed term of five years and is an independent officer of the House,[4] working a four-day week. The remit of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards does not extend to the House of Lords: the post of Lords Commissioner for Standards was created in 2010.[5]
History
The post was established in 1995 with Sir Gordon Downey as the first commissioner, serving the newly formed Committee for Standards and Privileges. He investigated the cash-for-questions affair.
The second commissioner was Elizabeth Filkin (1999–2002), whose first case involved Peter Mandelson and a large loan which he had failed to declare in the Register of Members' Interests.[6] Her departure was controversial.[7] [8]
The next commissioner was Sir Philip Mawer. MPs he investigated include George Galloway and Derek Conway. He avoided investigating high-level MPs such as cabinet ministers. Unlike his predecessor he was appointed to a second term, but he did not complete it; he took up a new post at the beginning of 2008 as an independent adviser on ministerial standards to the then prime minister Gordon Brown.[9]
John Lyon was commissioner from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2012. In an article about Lyon's questioning by the parliamentary enquiry into MPs' expenses, Private Eye described him as "feeble" and an "establishment stooge".[10]
Kathryn Hudson served as commissioner from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2017.[11] [12]
Kathryn Stone served as commissioner from 1 January 2018 until 31 December 2022.[13]
The current commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, began his tenure on 1 January 2023.[14]
List of commissioners
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: [Parliaments] in Paris and London have strongly focused on the 'reputational sanction' as a way for the discovery of the violation of the ethical-deontological standards of conduct of the parliamentarian. The institution of authorities outside the parliament has become the way in which those systems have tried to prevent judicial enforcement: both the English commissioner and the French French: déontologue (for some years, starting in 2011, appointed by the French: Bureau de l'Assemblée nationale) refer to the internal bodies of the respective parliaments, which are responsible for evaluating any sanctions. . it . Su due sentenze della sesta sezione penale della Cassazione in tema di corruzione e parliamentary . Giampiero . Buonomo . On two sentences of the sixth criminal section of the Cassation on corruption and parliamentarians . Diritto pubblico europeo rassegna . April 2019 . 14 . 2019-04-04 . 2021-11-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211108114259/https://www.academia.edu/38702365 . live .
- Web site: Register of Members' Financial Interests . . 8 November 2017 . 11 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201011022534/https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/registers-of-interests/register-of-members-financial-interests// . live .
- Web site: MPs to transfer sanctions power to independent panel . . 2020-06-19 . 2021-09-23.
- Web site: Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Office . . en . 1 August 2018 . 11 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201011022535/https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards// . live .
- Web site: Lords Commissioner . . 28 June 2012 . 11 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201011022537/https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/house-of-lords-commissioner-for-standards-// . live .
- News: Elizabeth Filkin: the 'Witch' puts away her broomstick . . 17 February 2002 . London . Jo . Dillon.
- News: Profile of Elizabeth Filkin . 27 October 2020 . . 5 December 2011 . 31 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031171512/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/1693721.stm . live .
- News: Hencke . David . How dirty tricks wounded Filkin . 27 October 2020 . . 5 December 2001 . 30 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201030213910/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/dec/05/houseofcommons.whitehall . live .
- News: Sir Philip Mawer: profile . . London . Chris . Irvine . 10 June 2009 . 4 April 2018 . 11 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201011022546/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5488601/Sir-Philip-Mawer-profile.html/ . live .
- Called to Ordure . . 1241 . 6 August 2009.
- House of Commons. Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. 12 September 2012. 382. 387.
- Web site: Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: Nomination of Candidate . . https://web.archive.org/web/20121223122524/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-commission/Commission%20report%20on%20PCS%20(final).pdf. 23 December 2012. 27 September 2016.
- Web site: 18 October 2022 . Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (Appointment – Hansard) . 25 January 2023 . Hansard.
- Web site: Daniel Greenberg nominated as next Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.
