Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether he will table a motion to propose amendments to the Code of Conduct to allow Members of the House who are found by the Commissioners for Standards to have broken the Code to have a right of verbal appeal against any (1) report, or (2) sanction, against them.

I have consulted the Chair of the Conduct Committee in preparing this answer.

The Guide to the Code of Conduct gives members a full right of appeal against the findings of the Commissioners for Standards. In March 2020 the House agreed that the Conduct Committee should, having considered any written appeal, be authorised to decide whether an in-person hearing is necessary. I have no plans to invite the Conduct Committee to look again at this issue.