Parliamentary Standards Bill

The hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alan Duncan) has made the point that sunset clauses are familiar to the House because they have been used in legislation dealing with emergency provisions in terrorism situations. Of course, one of the reasons why that legislation is deemed to be temporary is that it is hoped that the conditions and requirements demanding the legislation are temporary. Sunset clauses have been used in various bits of Northern Ireland legislation during the peace process, as institutions were established, different arrangements were put in place, and safeguards were introduced that it was hoped could later be disposed of. Sunset clauses were inserted in the hope that the circumstances and environment would change so the law would not have to remain permanently on the statute book, and there would not have to be a full Act of repeal. The situation that we are discussing is very different. I do not think any of us believe that the fundamental credibility question, and the issue of having independently verified and monitored standards in relation to parliamentary expenses and financial probity, will pass or be temporary. We are not talking about just a wee 2009 affair, courtesy of The Daily Telegraph; the situation goes deeper than that, and we are kidding ourselves if we think we can deal with that in a sunset clause. We are in danger of undermining the authority and standing of IPSA if we say we are setting it up on approval for a year. We have already inserted parliamentary control into an awful lot of what IPSA does.