65.New section 10A provides the Commissioner for Standards (‘the Commissioner’) with the power to investigate the conduct of a Member of the Senedd on their own initiative where the Commissioner is satisfied that the threshold provided for in subsection (1) has been met. The threshold which must be met includes at subsection (1)(b) a requirement that the Commissioner must be satisfied that any other conditions (other than that specified in subsection (1)(a)) – which may be set out in Standing Orders or rules made by the Senedd – are met before such an investigation is commenced. This enables the Senedd to establish those rules and the provision includes some illustrative examples of the types of rules that the Senedd may make.
66.Subsection (2) requires the Commissioner to report to the Senedd on the outcome of an own initiative investigation and subsection (3) requires the investigations and the report to be carried out in line with any provisions made by Standing Orders and the rules relating to the Commissioner’s investigations. Subsection (4) provides discretion for the Commissioner to decide when and how to carry out an own initiative investigation and to report its outcome, subject to the requirements in subsections (1) and (3). Subsection (5) provides that the Commissioner may discontinue an own initiative investigation without reporting on it to the Senedd if rules have been made in accordance with subsection (3)(b) setting out the circumstances in which that may happen. Subsection (6) provides that if the Commissioner discontinues an own initiative investigation in accordance with subsection (5), the Commissioner must notify the Member of the Senedd who has been under investigation in writing, giving reasons for discontinuing the investigation. Subsection (7) provides that any report made by the Commissioner to the Senedd on the outcome of an own initiative investigation may not include a recommendation on what sanction, if any, should be imposed on a Member of the Senedd: sanctions are the remit of the Senedd and its Standards of Conduct Committee, based on the report of the Commissioner.
67.Subsection (8) provides that, if in the course of an own initiative investigation, the Commissioner becomes aware of any circumstances which give rise to issues of principle or general practice which are relevant to the Clerk’s functions under section 138 of the 2006 Act (that the Clerk is to be the principal accounting officer for the Commission), the Commissioner is required to communicate those circumstances to the Clerk in writing.
68.Subsection (9) requires that Standing Orders must set out the detail of how own initiative investigations will operate. Subsection (10) confirms that, for the purposes of the Commissioner considering whether any conduct took place at a “relevant time” in accordance with new section 10A(1)(a), this means a time when the relevant requirement (for example, to make a declaration, or to behave in accordance with the applicable Code of Conduct on the Standards of Conduct of Members of the Senedd) was in force. This subsection confirms that it does not matter whether the conduct took place before the provisions in 10A came into force or afterwards.
Commentary on Sections Section 30A – Standards of Conduct Committee 10A – Power of the Commissioner to investigate on own initiative