Schedule 4: Parliamentary Standards Act 2009: new Schedule 4 Section 35: Relationships with other bodies etc
210.This section inserts new section 10A into the 2009 Act. New section 10A(1) requires the IPSA and the Compliance Officer to prepare a joint statement detailing how they will work with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and such other persons as they consider appropriate. The IPSA and the Compliance Officers must consult the same persons before preparing the joint statement (new section 10A(2)).
211.New section 10A(3) provides that the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Compliance Officer do not affect the disciplinary functions of the House of Commons. It will, therefore, be open to the House to impose its own parliamentary sanctions on an MP who has been the subject of enforcement action by the Compliance Officer. Conversely the Compliance Officer may exercise his or her investigatory and enforcement powers in respect of an MP who is, or has been, prosecuted for an offence or disciplined by the House in respect of the same conduct (new section 10A(4)).