Question

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reason rules on disciplinary action against hon. Members differ between those applied to decisions made by the Independent Experts Panel and those applied to decisions made by the Standards Committee.

The process for a petition under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 is not triggered by a suspension imposed on the recommendation of the Independent Expert Panel. For a recall to be initiated, the sanction must be imposed on the recommendation of the Committee on Standards, or another Committee of the House of Commons concerned with standards of conduct. The Independent Expert Panel is not a Committee of the House of Commons.

Prior to the establishment of the Panel in June 2020, the House of Commons Commission listened to concerns expressed during a consultation process that a recall mechanism would be detrimental in cases brought under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme because of the potential implications for the confidentiality of the process and possibility of retrial by media and the public which could affect the willingness of complainants to come forward.