The Commons Select Committee on Standards is appointed by the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

to oversee the work of the

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards. The current commissioner is Kathryn Stone. Duties The commissioner is i ...

History

The committee was created on 13 December 2012 as one half of the replacements for the

Committee on Standards and Privileges The Standards and Privileges Committee is a former committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons that existed from 1995 to 2013. The committee was established in 1995 to replace the earlier Committee of Privileges. It consisted of 10 Members of ...

. Following the expenses scandal, it was considered desirable for lay members to provide oversight of standards of conduct of MPs, but it was not considered proper for individuals who were not members of parliament to make decisions on

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

. The Standards and Privileges Committee was therefore split in two, with MPs (including the chair) by convention being elected to serve on both committees simultaneously, but with an additional cohort of lay members sitting on the Standards Committee. In the wake of the

Owen Paterson Owen William Paterson (born 24 June 1956) is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2012 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2012 to 2014 under Prime Minist ...

affair in November 2021, the Conservative government proposed removing the lay members entirely, which would leave the Conservatives with a majority of control on a newly re-constituted committee. MPs backed these reforms in a Common vote, as well as overturning the 30-day suspension of Paterson that had been recommended by the committee. However, these reforms were abandoned the following day amid widespread criticism, including from Conservative MPs. Paterson subsequently resigned as an MP.

Membership

The committee and its composition are regulated by House of Commons standing orders 149 and 149A, which specify that it shall consist of seven MPs and seven lay members. Lay members are permitted to serve a single six-year term and cannot ever have been members of either house of Parliament. Unlike membership of other select committees, lay membership of the Standards Committee is not terminated by a parliamentary dissolution. The role of chair of the committee is reserved for a member of the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

. The government

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and Solicitor General has a right of attendance, but are not members. , the members on the committee are as follows:

External links

The Committee's website

References

Select Committees of the British House of Commons {{UK-poli-stub