More to be done to make Parliament more ‘open, transparent and accountable’ for staff working there

Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy has called for further reform to make Parliament’s standards processes and worker protections more ‘open, transparent and accountable’. 

Mike was invited to given evidence to the House of Commons Standards Committee last week as part of its investigation into the House of Commons standards landscape. Prospect represents workers on the parliamentary estate, including those working on parliamentary committees.  

In his opening remarks, Mike reflected on how Prospect’s membership across the private and public sectors gave him a bird’s eye view across standards in both sectors. He called for the “root cause” to be dealt with rather than just the symptoms of the problem of misconduct by parliamentarians, noting that “culture starts with leadership” and the variations in “strong leadership in ethics in government” by recent political leaders. 

Asked about the success of the Recall Act – which allows MPs found to have undertaken serious misconduct – Mike noted the success so far of the mechanism, which has seen a number of MPs recalled by their constituents over the past Parliament.  

FDA General Secretary Dave Penman, who gave evidence alongside Mike, also welcomed the introduction of a recall of MPs, arguing that MPs knowing there was a potential serious sanction for misconduct acted as a deterrent for this kind of behaviour.  

Throughout the session, Mike stressed the importance of improving the culture in Parliament as a workplace and establishing an environment that is ‘open, transparent and accountable’ to protect those working on the estate and improve Parliament’s reputation.  

In a discussion on the merits of a single portal for reporting complaints about an MP, Mike emphasised the need for those looking to make a complaint having confidence that their complaint will be taken seriously and handled by someone with expertise and experience.  

Later in the session, Mike argued that political parties should be informing parliamentary authorities of internal investigations into alleged violent or sexual misconduct by MPs, recognising their responsibility to protect parliamentary staff and other MPs.  

Prospect has been campaigning for Parliament to adopt measures to allow the precautionary exclusion from the parliamentary estate of MPs arrested for violent or sexual misconduct. The House of Commons Commission published proposals relating to this late last year and Prospect has been calling for them to be brought to a vote and implemented as soon as possible.