House of Lords Commissioner for Standards

The House of Lords Commissioner for Standards is responsible for the independent and impartial investigation of alleged breaches of the House of Lords Code of Conduct. This includes investigating breaches of the rules on members’ financial support and parliamentary facilities.

The current Commissioner is Lucy Scott-Moncrieff CBE. She was appointed by the House as Commissioner for Standards for five years from 1 June 2016. She was president of the Law Society of England and Wales from 2010 to 2013.

 

Complaints

Anyone wishing to make a complaint against a member of the House of Lords concerning a matter within the Commissioner's remit should write to The House of Lords Commissioner for Standards, House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW. Please note that complaints submitted by telephone or email will not be considered.

When making a complaint the following information should be provided:

  • in what respect the member concerned is alleged to have breached the Code of Conduct, or broken the rules governing the use of financial support or parliamentary facilities
  • as much evidence as possible in support of the complaint
  • name, postal address, telephone number and, if possible, email address.

The Commissioner conducts a preliminary assessment of all complaints. Following this preliminary assessment she will inform both the complainant and the member concerned whether or not she will investigate the complaint. If the Commissioner decides that a complaint does not merit investigation then she will provide the person who has complained with a brief explanation of the reasons for her decision.

A full explanation of the investigation process is in the Guide to the Code of Conduct.

For general enquiries the office of the Commissioner may be contacted on 020 7219 7152 and at lordsstandards@parliament.uk.

 

Message from the Commissioner

The House of Lords Code of Conduct provides guidance on the standards of conduct expected of members in the discharge of their parliamentary duties. This includes a requirement to act on their personal honour in the discharge of their parliamentary duties. In relevant circumstances, I take personal honour to include personal conduct towards others.
 
It has been drawn to my attention that this may not be obvious from the wording of the Code and its guidance. Anyone wishing to establish whether the particular behaviour of an individual could amount to a breach of the Code, may contact me for further information.
 
Contact should be in the usual way, but may be through an intermediary if the person concerned wishes to remain anonymous during the preliminary discussion. Any preliminary discussion will be strictly confidential.

 

Annual reports

The Commissioner’s annual reports cover the period from the start of June to the end of May each year. The reports detail the number of complaints received in that period and indicate how the complaints were resolved.

Further information

Contact the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards office

General Enquiries: 020 7219 7152
Email: lordsstandards@parliament.uk