18 June 2002

PN 3/2002

INQUIRY INTO CONDUCT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Mr Donovan McClelland, the Chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Standards and Privileges, attended a meeting of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, in London, to give oral evidence to its Inquiry into Standards of Conduct in the House of Commons. Mr Tom Frawley, the Assembly Ombudsman, who also gave evidence to the Committee, accompanied Mr McClelland.

The inquiry will focus on the present arrangements governing standards of conduct in the House of Commons and will examine whether the arrangements and their implementation are sufficient to assure the public that the highest standards of propriety are being upheld. The Committee on Standards in Public Life is chaired by Sir Nigel Wicks.

Speaking after meeting the Committee, Mr McClelland said:

"My Committee was delighted to have had the opportunity to meet Sir Nigel Wicks when he visited the Northern Ireland Assembly earlier this year. We are now fully committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with Sir Nigel's Committee and I welcome very much this opportunity to give evidence as part of the Committee's Inquiry into Standards of Conduct in the House of Commons.

As part of my presentation I gave some insight into the workings of my Committee, the progress it has made to date and what we see as some of our key priorities in the future.

Sir Nigel's Committee was particularly interested to learn how the Assembly will deal with the regulation of standards of conduct of our Members and was also interested to hear at first hand the progress made following my Committee's inquiry into "The Possible Appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards". The key recommendation of that report was that there should be an independent mechanism for investigating complaints against Assembly Members."

Mr McClelland went on to say:

" I advised the Committee that we had considered various methods of appointing a Commissioner for Standards and concluded that the Office of the Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland was particularly well placed and equipped to discharge the functions of such a Commissioner.

I also informed the Committee that primary legislation would have to be introduced to empower the Ombudsman to act as our Commissioner for Standards, and in taking this approach to the appointment, my Committee was keen to ensure the independence of the Commissioner.

The Committee was also interested to learn that the relevant primary legislation will be introduced as a Committee Bill sponsored by my Committee. This is currently being prepared and I intend to introduce this Bill in the Assembly shortly."

Concluding his remarks Mr McClelland said:

"I also had the opportunity to tell at first hand about our recent inquiry in which my Committee undertook a fundamental and searching review of the Assembly "Code of Conduct" and "The Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members". These two key Assembly documents inform the behaviour of Members and ensure that they are accountable for the conduct of their public duties. In reviewing these, the Committee has examined the scope for introducing a greater ethical dimension to the Code and the Guide.

We are now about to issue a consultation document on proposed amendments to the Code and the Guide. This will be issued before the summer recess, it will be widely circulated and comments and observations on the proposed amendments will be welcomed."

Notes for Editors

The Committee on Standards and Privileges is a Standing Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly established in accordance with paragraph 10 of Strand One of the Belfast Agreement and under Assembly Standing Orders 48 and 52. The Committee has 11 members including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson and a quorum of 5.

The Committee has power:

• to consider specific matters relating to privilege referred to it by the Assembly;
• to oversee the work of the Assembly Clerk of Standards;
• to examine the arrangements for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members' Interests and any other registers of interest established by the Assembly, and to review from time to time the form and content of those registers;
• to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering or declaring of interests referred to it;
• to consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches of any code of conduct to which the Assembly has agreed and which have been drawn to the Committee's attention;
• to recommend any modifications to any Assembly code of conduct as may from time to time appear to be necessary.

The Committee is appointed at the start of every Assembly, and has power to send for persons and papers and records that are relevant to its enquiries.

The membership of the Committee since its establishment on 29 November 1999 has been as follows:

Mr Donovan McClelland: Chairperson
Mr Roy Beggs Jnr: Deputy Chairperson ***
Mr Derek Hussey: Deputy Chairperson ***

Dr Ian Adamson
Mr Paul Berry**
Mr Arthur Doherty
Sir John Gorman CVO, CBE, MC, DL
Mr Kieran Mc Carthy
Mr Pat Mc Namee
Mr D O'Connor
Dr Dara O'Hagan
Mr Edwin Poots*
Mr James Wells

* Mr Edwin Poots resigned from the Committee on 11 September 2000
** Mr Paul Berry was appointed to the Committee on 11 September 2000
*** Mr Derek Hussey replaced Mr Roy Beggs on the Committee on 5 March 2002

All enquiries about the work of the Committee on Standards and Privileges should be directed to:

Mr Donovan McClelland or Clerk of Standards
Chairman Room 402
Committee on Standards and Privileges Parliament Buildings
Room 323 Stormont
Parliament Buildings Belfast BT4 3XX
Stormont
Belfast BT4 3XX
(TEL. 02890 521 693) (TEL. 02890 520 333)

Northern Ireland Assembly Information Office, Room B2, Parliament Buildings, Belfast, BT4 3XX. Telephone 01232-521137/521396. Fax 01232-521961.

Website Address - archive.niassembly.gov.uk E-mail - info.office@ni-assembly.gov.uk