Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

Day by day, those responsibilities will not overlap, but there must be the overlap that I am describing. I think that the Committee accepts that. Without that overlap, the system could be subject to outrageous abuse. That is unlikely, given what the House and Members, whether they have transgressed or not, have been through in the past year, but one can ever be surprised. If there were such an abuse—a serious fraud, which might involve police prosecution—the case would go to the compliance officer and a civil sanction might be imposed, as might a requirement to repay money. However, if the abuse were particularly outrageous, the compliance officer might decide to refer the case to the Standards and Privileges Committee, with a view to the relevant person being expelled or suspended from the House. There is no rule here, any more than there is a rule in real life, that says that if one transgresses criminal law or a statutory code, the only consequences that will follow will be those related directly to the transgression of that law or code. If one transgresses criminal law and the case is serious enough, one might go to prison, but one might also lose one's job. Police officers who transgress the criminal law and the disciplinary code may lose not only their liberty and their job, but, in extreme circumstances, their pension as well. When I was the Home Secretary, I had to take decisions on such matters. The measures I am outlining will run parallel to such systems. I hope that that satisfies the hon. Gentleman. We do not propose that there should be second-guessing, or two parallel systems of enforcement.