Standards of Conduct Committee

SOC(4)-04-13: Paper 2 – Tuesday 9 July 2013

Note from Commissioner for Standards

To: Members of the Standards Committee

1. The review of the Code of Conduct for Assembly Members continues.  As I write this Note, the review of Lobbying and Cross Party Groups arrangements is well nigh complete,  as are new provisions governing the powers of this Committee and the National Assembly  in relation to available sanctions.

2.  I respectfully suggest that the Committee  now moves on to a specific review of the area of the Code dealing with Registrable Interests.

3. The appended paper, (authored by Gareth Rogers, Registrar,  to whom I am indebted) raises issues of principle in this area which will require decision by the Committee, following which I would envisage a period of consultation with AMs and others, before a return report by me to the Committee, which  can then finalise the proposals in this area.

4. Accordingly, I invite the Committee at this stage to:

· Note the content of the paper;

· Resolve to consider the matters of principle raised therein at a meeting early in the new session;

·  To invite Gareth Rogers and myself to be present at such meeting, to answer queries and questions raised by the Committee in the course of its deliberations.

5. In line with the provisional decisions of the Committee in March, I also append an initial draft of the Preamble & Section 1, “The Offences”,  of the proposed new Code which again I would expect to be putting out to consultation in the Autumn of this year.  Please note that it is the general format & content  of these sections of the draft  about which, at this stage, I am inviting comment from the Committee – the precise wording will require significant further revision. 

6. Accordingly, I invite the Committee to

· Provisionally approve (or amend and approve) the format of the Preamble &  Section  1 of the proposed new Code.

Gerard Elias QC

Commissioner for Standards                                                      02.07.2013