Restore Standards in Public Life

Submitted by: 10 members.
Mover: Zöe Franklin.
Summation: Monica Harding.

Conference notes:

1. The deterioration of standards in public life under the Conservatives.
2. The resignation of Boris Johnson, who was subsequently found to have deliberately misled Parliament by the Privileges Committee, and Liz Truss, after the Conservative Government crashed the economy.
3. Rishi Sunak's promise on the steps of Downing Street to govern with 'integrity, accountability and professionalism', which was immediately followed by his decision to appoint Suella Braverman, Dominic Raab, Gavin Williamson and Nadhim Zahawi.
4. That the seemingly endless stream of standards scandals has not abated under Rishi Sunak - with three Cabinet resignations over standards as well as a number of Conservative MPs.
5. That the role of the Government Ethics Adviser was vacant for six months and when the Prime Minister finally made an appointment, he decided not to give them powers to initiate investigations.
6. That the Ministerial Register of Interests was not updated for almost a year, despite a significant turnover of Government Ministers, having the effect that Government Ministers were subject to lower transparency requirements than backbench MPs.
7. The resignation of Richard Sharp, the Chair of the BBC, after failing to declare his connection to a loan made to Boris Johnson.
8. That Rishi Sunak granted Boris Johnson honours to his cronies, and failed to approve the Privileges Committee report which found that Johnson had deliberately misled Parliament.

Conference believes that:

1. Those in power must be held to account.
2. Rishi Sunak's promise to govern with 'integrity, accountability and professionalism' has been comprehensively trashed.
3. The Conservatives' seemingly endless standards scandals are damaging trust in the UK's political system.
4. It is vital that standards in public life are restored.

Conference accordingly calls on the Government to:

1. Make the role of the Ethics Adviser truly independent by:
   1. Empowering the Ethics Adviser so they can initiate their own investigations, determine breaches and publish their report.
   2. Putting the role of the Ethics Adviser on a statutory basis and giving Parliament the power to appoint the Ethics Adviser.
2. Enshrine the Ministerial Code in legislation.
3. Introduce motions of no confidence in respect to individual ministers which will allow Members of Parliament to table motions to remove a Minister of the Crown from office if they fail to command the confidence of the House of Commons.
4. Introduce new rules to ensure that a Prime Minister must have served for at least one year before becoming eligible to access the Public Duty Cost Allowance fund of up to 115,000 per annum.
5. Ensure that Ministers receive annual training to prevent further standards scandals.
6. Establish a rigorous, transparent and independent process to appoint significant public roles, including the BBC Chair, involving a confirmatory vote by the relevant Parliamentary select committee.
7. Bring reporting standards for the Ministerial Register of Interests in line with the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests, so that publication takes place more frequently.
8. Given the deficit of trust, restore confidence that the public have in politics by implementing fair votes via proportional representation.
9. Put the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments into legislation, along with their underlying rules, as recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
10. Ensure more equal access to government by lobbyists and other vested interests by issuing guidance for departments and requiring them to report annually on the steps they have taken.

Conference calls on the Prime Minister to apologise for Conservative standards scandals and recommit to the Nolan principles of public life.

Applicability: Federal.

Motion before amendment

Submitted by: 10 members.
Mover: Zöe Franklin.
Summation: Monica Harding.

Conference notes:

1. The deterioration of standards in public life under the Conservatives.
2. The resignation of Boris Johnson, who was subsequently found to have deliberately misled Parliament by the Privileges Committee, and Liz Truss, after the Conservative Government crashed the economy.
3. Rishi Sunak's promise on the steps of Downing Street to govern with 'integrity, accountability and professionalism', which was immediately followed by his decision to appoint Suella Braverman, Dominic Raab, Gavin Williamson and Nadhim Zahawi.
4. That the seemingly endless stream of standards scandals has not abated under Rishi Sunak - with three Cabinet resignations over standards as well as a number of Conservative MPs.
5. That the role of the Government Ethics Adviser was vacant for six months and when the Prime Minister finally made an appointment, he decided not to give them powers to initiate investigations.
6. That the Ministerial Register of Interests was not updated for almost a year, despite a significant turnover of Government Ministers, having the effect that Government Ministers were subject to lower transparency requirements than backbench MPs.
7. The resignation of Richard Sharp, the Chair of the BBC, after failing to declare his connection to a loan made to Boris Johnson.
8. That Rishi Sunak granted Boris Johnson honours to his cronies, and failed to approve the Privileges Committee report which found that Johnson had deliberately misled Parliament.

Conference believes that:

1. Those in power must be held to account.
2. Rishi Sunak's promise to govern with 'integrity, accountability and professionalism' has been comprehensively trashed.
3. The Conservatives' seemingly endless standards scandals are damaging trust in the UK's political system.
4. It is vital that standards in public life are restored.

Conference accordingly calls on the Government to:

1. Make the role of the Ethics Adviser truly independent by:
   1. Empowering the Ethics Adviser so they can initiate their own investigations, determine breaches and publish their report.
   2. Putting the role of the Ethics Adviser on a statutory basis and giving Parliament the power to appoint the Ethics Adviser.
2. Enshrine the Ministerial Code in legislation.
3. Introduce new rules to ensure that a Prime Minister must have served for at least one year before becoming eligible to access the Public Duty Cost Allowance fund of up to 115,000 per annum.
4. Ensure that Ministers receive annual training to prevent further standards scandals.
5. Establish a rigorous, transparent and independent process to appoint significant public roles, including the BBC Chair, involving a confirmatory vote by the relevant Parliamentary select committee.
6. Bring reporting standards for the Ministerial Register of Interests in line with the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests, so that publication takes place more frequently.
7. Given the deficit of trust, restore confidence that the public have in politics by implementing fair votes via proportional representation.

Conference calls on the Prime Minister to apologise for Conservative standards scandals and recommit to the Nolan principles of public life.

Applicability: Federal.

Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and mover and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 110-111 of the agenda.

The deadline for amendments to this motion and for separate votes is 13.00 Monday 11 September. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday’s Conference Daily.

Amendments

Amendment One

PASSED

Submitted by: 11 members
Mover: Rowan Fitton.
Summation: Rowan Fitton.

After 2. (line 49), insert:

3.       Introduce motions of no confidence in respect to individual ministers, which will allow Members of Parliament to table motions to remove a Minister of the Crown from office if they fail to command the confidence of the House of Commons.

Amendment Two

PASSED

Submitted by: 10 members
Mover: Tessa Munt.
Summation: Nick Coates.

After 7. (line 66), insert:

8.       Put the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments into legislation, along with their underlying rules, as recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Amendment Three

PASSED

Submitted by: 10 members
Mover: Tessa Munt.
Summation: Nick Coates.

After 7. (line 66), insert:

8.       Ensure more equal access to government by lobbyists and other vested interests by issuing guidance for departments and requiring them to report annually on the steps they have taken.