Parliament: Security

(asked on 24th November 2020) - View Source

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what are the current rules on (1) eligibility, and (2) sponsorship of Parliamentary passes for lobbyists.


This question was answered on 2nd December 2020

Nobody is entitled to a parliamentary pass by virtue of being a lobbyist. Any passholder who has an external lobbying role separate to their parliamentary role is not permitted to use their pass for lobbying purposes. The rules governing the sponsorship of passes by members of the House of Lords, which were recently amended, say: "Such passholders must use their Parliamentary pass only to provide Parliamentary support to the sponsor and other members of the House, and not in furtherance of any other interests of their own or of other organisations for which they work. Members may not sponsor a pass for anybody whose primary role is to support an All-Party Parliamentary Group."

The Code of Conduct for House of Lords Members’ Staff requires them to register their outside interests, including "any … financial interest in businesses or organisations involved in parliamentary lobbying".

Anybody who has evidence that an individual is breaching any of these rules may complain to the independent Commissioner for Standards at lordsstandards@parliament.uk.

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