Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

The role of the parliamentary commissioner is to enforce the various codes—Standing Orders—that the House has established to deal with, for example, declarations of interest. That is the most obvious example, but included in that would also be examples of advocacy in the House—cases where somebody has been taking money from a particular organisation or individual to advocate a cause and has then failed to disclose that—and many other matters. The enforcement of the rules about allowances, for example in respect of office costs, travel and accommodation, is plainly a matter for IPSA and therefore would fall to the compliance officer. We have separated the two roles, as set out in the group of amendments. The Committee will note that new clause 70 provides for the appointment of a compliance officer and that one of new schedules sets out in more detail how that officer would be appointed and how he or she could be removed.