Parliamentary Standards Bill

Like the noble Lord, Lord Cope, I have some difficulty envisaging a Member spending money on being prosecuted. I should like to ask the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, whether he intends the term "investigation" to have a formal meaning or whether he is thinking of any informal—perhaps I should say "not so public"—work being undertaken? There may be a distinction. It might not be a real distinction in practice but, while a prosecution is in contemplation, it could be that the committee will want privately to be thinking about issues that could be raised. I am simply concerned to understand what "investigation" means in this context.