Committee on Standards publishes report on the conduct of Alex Davies-Jones MP
9 February 2023
The Committee on Standards has today released a report on the conduct of Alex Davies-Jones MP.
This report arises from an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards following a self-referral from Alex Davies-Jones MP. The Commissioner investigated whether Ms Davies-Jones had breached paragraph 12 of the Code of Conduct for Members, on paid advocacy, when asking a topical question at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development questions on 8 November 2022.
The Committee is grateful to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, for his investigation and memorandum, which is appended to the Committee’s full report.
The Committee on Standards’ report briefly summarises the Commissioner’s opinion before setting out the Committee’s own analysis and conclusions.
The Commissioner’s opinion
 The Commissioner has given his opinion that Ms Davies-Jones' topical question, in requesting Government support for the British Council, sought to confer a financial or material benefit on the British Council, from whom she had received outside reward or consideration, and therefore breached paragraph 12 of the Code.
The Commissioner stated that "the breach could be fairly classed as inadvertent as Ms Davies-Jones assured me that the question was spontaneous, was not drafted in consultation with the British Council, and she had made no follow-up approach to a Minister, other Member, or a public official".
Ms Davies-Jones accepts that her topical question breached the lobbying rules, and has apologised for this to the Commissioner.
The Committee’s findings
The Committee agrees with the Commissioner that Ms Davies-Jones was in receipt of outside reward or consideration at the relevant time and that her topical question sought to confer a financial or material benefit on the British Council.
The Committee accepts the Commissioner's advice that Ms Davies-Jones' question was spontaneous and that there was no intention to breach the rules; and that Ms Davies-Jones sought to be open and transparent when asking her topical question and throughout the Commissioner's investigation.
The Committee’s conclusions and recommended sanctions
The Committee draws attention in its report to the fact that the rules that relate to this case are changing from 1 March 2023, and that under the new Guide to the Rules approved by the House, visits undertaken under the auspices of the British Council will no longer be registrable. The Committee states that it intended, when recommending this change, that such visits would also not engage the lobbying rules after March 2023. The Committee intends to propose clarifications to the Guide to the Rules in future to make this interpretation clear.
The Committee accepts that, under the rules that applied at the time, Ms Davies-Jones breached paragraph 12 of the Code of Conduct for Members, on paid advocacy, in asking her topical question on 8 November 2022. However, the Committee said that it considers this to be “a minor and inadvertent breach of the Code”.
In accordance with the Committee’s usual practice, it has considered whether there are any aggravating or mitigating factors in relation to this breach. The Committee considers the following to be mitigating factors:
a) Ms Davies-Jones has sought to uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life, in particular, the principles of openness, honesty and accountability, throughout;
b) The breach was inadvertent; and
c) Ms Davies-Jones has cooperated fully with the Commissioner's investigation and has apologised for her breach of the Code.
This was a minor and inadvertent breach of the Code. Ms Davies-Jones has apologised to the Commissioner for breaching the rules. The Committee noted that, in its view, Ms Davies-Jones would not have been in breach of the Code had she taken the same course of action after 1 March 2023. The Committee therefore recommends that no further action be taken.
Further information
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