Appointment of a new Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Parliamentary Commissioners for Standards are appointed for non-renewable, five year terms. [HC Deb 26 June 2003 c1258]

The term of the current Commissioner, Kathryn Hudson, began on 1 January 2013.

On Thursday 20 July, the House will be asked to approve a motion to appoint Kathryn Stone as PCS.

On 18 July 2017, the House of Commons Commission recommended the nomination of Kathryn Stone as the next Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (PCS).

The Commission's report on the appointment process and its recommendation of Kathryn Stone was published on 19 July 2017, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: Nomination of Candidate [HC294 2017-19]

Kathryn Stone is currently the Chief Ombudsman at the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales.

Principal duties of the Commissioner

The principal duties of the PCS are set out in Standing Order No 150:

(a) to maintain the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and any other registers of interest established by the House, and to make such arrangements for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of those registers as are approved by the Committee on Standards or an appropriate sub-committee thereof;

(b) to provide advice confidentially to Members and other persons or bodies subject to registration on matters relating to the registration of individual interests;

(c) to advise the Committee on Standards, its sub-committees and individual Members on the interpretation of any code of conduct to which the House has agreed and on questions of propriety;

(d) to monitor the operation of such code and registers, and to make recommendations thereon to the Committee on Standards or an appropriate sub-committee thereof; and

(e) to investigate, if he thinks fit, specific matters which have come to his attention relating to the conduct of Members and to report to the Committee on Standards or to an appropriate sub-committee thereof, unless the provisions of paragraph (4) apply.

Useful Links

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Office

The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards deals with the application of the Code of Conduct and related Rules that apply to Members of Parliament.

This includes the registration of financial interests held by MPs and the investigation of allegations that MPs have breached the rules set out in the House of Commons Code of Conduct.

Code of Conduct and Rules of the House