Conduct of Mr Derek Conway

Conduct of Mr Derek Conway PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215038449
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
Following a memorandum submitted by the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, this report is a consequence of a complaint against Mr Derek Conway, Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup from a Mr Michael Barnbrook. The complaint concerned the fact that Mr Conway was paying his son £981 a month from his Parliamentary Staffing Allowance while his son was in full-time education at Newcastle University. Also that he had refused to disclose what work his son was doing on his behalf, or the hours his son worked. There appears to be no dispute over the fact Mr Conway employed his younger son as a part-time assistant from 1 September 2004 to 24 August 2007. His job description was based on a standard job description as set out by the Department of Resources (DFA) and his contract of employment provided he worked for 17 hours a week. He was originally employed on a salary of £10,000 per annum, increased to £11,773, which was backdated to the start of his employment. His basic salary was within the pay range set by the DFA. His son was also given four one-off sums, intended as in lieu of an annual salary uprating and bonuses for good work. The Committee has set out the following responses, including: that Mr Conway paid bonuses to his son in excess of the maximum permitted levels between 2005 - 2008; based on the Parliamentary Commissioner's assessment of the duties Mr Conway's son was asked to perform, it was unlikely he required all the contracted hours he was being paid for, the Committee therefore expresses scepticism that Mr Conway's son worked the permitted contracted hours per week; there is no record of the work his son is supposed to have done or a record of the hours kept, so any remuneration given was at the very least an improper use of the Parliamentary allowances, or at worst a serious diversion of public funds; that the salary paid to his son, was therefore a misuse of the Staffing Allowance; that as a consequence Mr Conway should repay the overpaid bonus funds, together with the associated pension contribution; the Committee stated that it regards this case as a serious breach of the rules and recommends Mr Conway be suspended from the service of the House for 10 sitting days, and also apologise to the House for his shortcomings by way of a personal statement.

Conduct of Mr Derek Conway

Conduct of Mr Derek Conway PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215038449
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
Following a memorandum submitted by the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, this report is a consequence of a complaint against Mr Derek Conway, Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup from a Mr Michael Barnbrook. The complaint concerned the fact that Mr Conway was paying his son £981 a month from his Parliamentary Staffing Allowance while his son was in full-time education at Newcastle University. Also that he had refused to disclose what work his son was doing on his behalf, or the hours his son worked. There appears to be no dispute over the fact Mr Conway employed his younger son as a part-time assistant from 1 September 2004 to 24 August 2007. His job description was based on a standard job description as set out by the Department of Resources (DFA) and his contract of employment provided he worked for 17 hours a week. He was originally employed on a salary of £10,000 per annum, increased to £11,773, which was backdated to the start of his employment. His basic salary was within the pay range set by the DFA. His son was also given four one-off sums, intended as in lieu of an annual salary uprating and bonuses for good work. The Committee has set out the following responses, including: that Mr Conway paid bonuses to his son in excess of the maximum permitted levels between 2005 - 2008; based on the Parliamentary Commissioner's assessment of the duties Mr Conway's son was asked to perform, it was unlikely he required all the contracted hours he was being paid for, the Committee therefore expresses scepticism that Mr Conway's son worked the permitted contracted hours per week; there is no record of the work his son is supposed to have done or a record of the hours kept, so any remuneration given was at the very least an improper use of the Parliamentary allowances, or at worst a serious diversion of public funds; that the salary paid to his son, was therefore a misuse of the Staffing Allowance; that as a consequence Mr Conway should repay the overpaid bonus funds, together with the associated pension contribution; the Committee stated that it regards this case as a serious breach of the rules and recommends Mr Conway be suspended from the service of the House for 10 sitting days, and also apologise to the House for his shortcomings by way of a personal statement.

Mr Derek Conway MP

Mr Derek Conway MP PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215526243
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
This is the second report (Committee on Standards and Privileges, HCP 207, session 2008-09), on Mr Derek Conway MP, the first was published January 2008 (HCP 280, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215038449). In the first report, the Committee accepted the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards investigation, that Mr Derek Conway had overpaid his son Freddie Conway, whom he had employed as his Parliamentary research assistant and had awarded him excessive bonuses. The Committee concluded that a serious breach of the rules had taken place. A further complaint was made against Mr Conway in employing his elder son, Henry Conway. The Committee has established that Henry Conway was employed from 1 July 2001 to 1 October 2004. At the time he was a full-time student. His duties as a research assistant were set out in his contract of employment and were wide-ranging, including dealing with constituents. In practice, according to Henry Conway and Mr Conway, half his time was spent on research-related work, and about half on administrative and office tasks. No documentary or other hard evidence of the work carried out by Henry Conway has survived. The Commissioner concludes, on the basis of the evidence seen, that Henry Conway did undertake work for Mr Conway during the period of his employment and that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation that Henry Conway failed to work the 18 hours a week for which he was contracted. The Committee has accepted the Commissioner's conclusion. The Committee further accepted the Commissioner's conclusions that Henry Conway's basic research and administrative skills were consistent with Mr Conway's requirements as his employer, and that the starting salary, at £800 above the minimum, was not unreasonably high in the circumstances at the time and the decisions to award bonus and overtime payments were not unreasonable. The Committee though agrees with the Commissioner that for the last 21⁄2 years of his employment, Henry Conway's salary was unnecessarily high and that by paying this amount, My Conway had breached the rules of the House. The Committee expects Mr Conway to apologise to the House for his breach by writing to the Chairman of the Committee, and further recommends he reimburse the House in full for the cost of the overpayments to Henry Conway, totalling £3,757.83.

Conduct of Mr George Osborne

Conduct of Mr George Osborne PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215520524
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards submitted a memorandum on his investigation of a complaint that Mr George Osborne failed to register certain donations in the Register of Members' Interests. These donations were made to the Conservative Party and used by the Party to support the cost of running his office as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. It became clear that many other members of the Shadow Cabinet used funds in this way, so this complaint has ramifications well beyond one entry in the Register. Mr Osborne believes that financial support received through a party to support work as a Shadow Minister does not constitute 'financial or material support as a Member of Parliament'. The Commissioner finds that there is no logical reason to differentiate between the different capacities in which MPs receive financial support, and upholds the complaint, but does not believe Mr Osborne should be criticised as the area was in need of clarification. He makes five recommendations which should regularise the position, and members of the Shadow Cabinet are given four weeks from publication of this report to amend their Register entries. The Committee agrees with the Commissioner's findings and recommendations.

Conduct of Mr Mark Hunter

Conduct of Mr Mark Hunter PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215524102
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
This report responds to a complaint arising from a survey relating to local National Health Service (NHS) services in Mr Hunter's constituency of Cheadle and carried out by Mr Hunter and funded from his Communications Allowance (CA). There were three elements to the complaint: that the survey contained material that should not have been included in a CA funded survey; that it should not have been circulated outside the constituency; and that publicity for the survey in a newsletter funded and circulated by his local party in one part of his constituency amounted to exploitation of the survey for party political purposes. The Committee agree with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards that the survey included an incorrect imprint which suggested that it was party rather parliamentary in origin and that the CA should not have been used to distribute the survey outside Mr Hunter's constituency. They also agreed that, by themselves, the breaches were not so serious as to cause us to conclude that his survey should not have been funded from the CA

Ms Dari Taylor

Ms Dari Taylor PDF Author: House of Commons Committee on Standards
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215524942
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
This is the 18th report from the Committee on Standards and Privileges (HCP 1188, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215524942) on a complaint against Ms Dari Taylor MP, for Stockton South. The complaint against Ms Taylor, by Mr James Wharton of Stockton South Conservatives, concerned the possible misuse of stationery and postage provided by Parliament, for letters sent between August and October 2007. In total, six letters were sent, with the Parliamentary Commissioner reaching a separate conclusion for each letter, as to whether the letters represented an allowable use of Incidental Expenses Provision and of House of Commons stationery and postage. The case against two letters was dismissed. The Commissioner concluded that in three cases, official House of Commons stationery provided by the House and pre-paid envelopes were misused, and that in a fourth case, official House of Commons stationery purchased by Ms Taylor was misused. The Committee therefore agrees with the Commissioner's conclusions. The Committee further concluded, that they strongly deprecated the continued misuse by Ms Taylor of House stationery for political purposes and also expresses regret that Ms Taylor has continued to dispute parts of the Commissioner's findings and has offered no apology. In conclusion, the Committee states Ms Taylor should pay the House authorities the sum of £500 and sunmit an unequivocal written apology.

Employment of family members through the staffing allowance

Employment of family members through the staffing allowance PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215514332
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Employment of family members through the staffing Allowance : Seventh report of session 2007-08, report and appendices, together with formal Minutes

Use of Pre-paid Envelopes and Official Stationery

Use of Pre-paid Envelopes and Official Stationery PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215525253
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 16

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Book Description
Use of pre-paid envelopes and official Stationery : Nineteenth report of session 2007-08, report and appendix, together with formal Minutes

Premature Disclosure of Select Committee Papers

Premature Disclosure of Select Committee Papers PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee on Standards and Privileges
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215525437
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
This report, (HCP 1212, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215525437), contains conclusions on two cases referred to the Committee on Standards and Privileges by other committees of the House. The first case involved the unauthorised disclosure of two papers prepared for the European Scrutiny Committee by its legal adviser on the mandate for the inter-governmental conference which led to the Lisbon Treaty, and appeared in an article in the Daily Telegraph on 26 June 2007. The second involved the unauthorised disclosure of parts of a draft report prepared for the Home Affairs Committee on the Government's counter terrorism proposals which appeared in the Financial Times on 5 December 2007. The Standards Committee accepts the view that the disclosure of such internal committee papers constituted a substantial interference in their work.

Law and Administration

Law and Administration PDF Author: Carol Harlow
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521197074
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 881

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Book Description
A contextualised study setting out the foundations of administrative law, with discussion of case law and legislation to show practical application.

An Extraordinary Scandal

An Extraordinary Scandal PDF Author: Emma Crewe
Publisher: Haus Publishing
ISBN: 1912208768
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
A parliamentary scandal that dominates the headlines. The resignation of major party figures. Commentators and citizens wondering if the British government—and the people’s faith in it—will survive. Before Brexit, another major crisis rocked the foundation of government in the country: the expenses scandal of 2009. Featuring interviews with the members of parliament, journalists, and officials close to the center of the turmoil, An Extraordinary Scandal tells the story of what really happened. Andrew Walker, the tax expert who oversaw the parliamentary expenses system, and Emma Crewe, a social scientist specializing in the institutions of parliament, bring fascinating perspectives—from both inside and outside parliament—to this account. Far from attempting provide a defense of any the parties involved, An Extraordinary Scandal explains how the parliament fell out of step with the electorate and became a victim of its own remote institutional logic, growing to become at odds with an increasingly open, meritocratic society. Charting the crisis from its 1990s origins—when Westminster began, too slowly, to respond to wider societal changes—to its aftermath in 2010, the authors examine how the scandal aggravated the developing crisis of trust between the British electorate and Westminster politicians that continues to this day. Their in-depth research reveals new insight into how the expenses scandal acted as a glimpse of what was to come, and they reveal where the scandal’s legacy can be traced in the new age of mistrust and outrage, in which politicians are often unfairly vulnerable to being charged in the court of public opinion by those they represent.