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Mr David Curry House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges Mr David Curry Twelfth Report of Session 2009–10 Report and Appendices, together with formal minutes Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 23 March 2010 HC 509 Published on 25 March 2010 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Committee on Standards and Privileges The Committee on Standards and Privileges is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards; to examine the arrangements proposed by the Commissioner for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members’ Interests and any other registers of interest established by the House; to review from time to time the form and content of those registers; to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering or declaring of interests referred to it by the Commissioner; to consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches in the Code of Conduct which have been drawn to the Committee’s attention by the Commissioner; and to recommend any modifications to the Code of Conduct as may from time to time appear to be necessary. Current membership Rt hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP (Conservative, Kensington & Chelsea) (Chair) Rt hon Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) Mr Andrew Dismore MP (Labour, Hendon) Nick Harvey MP (Liberal Democrat, North Devon) Rt hon Greg Knight MP (Conservative, East Yorkshire) Mr Elfyn Llwyd MP (Plaid Cymru, Meirionnydd Nant Conwy) Mr Chris Mullin MP (Labour, Sunderland South) The hon Nicholas Soames MP (Conservative, Mid Sussex) Mr Paddy Tipping MP (Labour, Sherwood) Dr Alan Whitehead MP (Labour, Southampton Test) Powers The constitution and powers of the Committee are set out in Standing Order No. 149. In particular, the Committee has power to order the attendance of any Member of Parliament before the committee and to require that specific documents or records in the possession of a Member relating to its inquiries, or to the inquiries of the Commissioner, be laid before the Committee. The Committee has power to refuse to allow its public proceedings to be broadcast. The Law Officers, if they are Members of Parliament, may attend and take part in the Committee’s proceedings, but may not vote. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at: www.parliament.uk/sandp. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Mr Steve Priestley (Clerk), Miss Rhiannon Hollis (Second Clerk) and Ms Jane Cooper (Committee Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, Journal Office, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6615. Mr David Curry 1 Contents Report Page Mr David Curry 3 Introduction 3 The Commissioner’s findings 4 Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his constituency home 4 Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his Westminster flat 5 Mr Curry’s work as Chairman of Dairy UK 6 Mr Curry’s evidence 8 Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his constituency home 8 Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his Westminster flat 8 Mr Curry’s work as Chairman of Dairy UK 9 Conclusions and recommendations 9 Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his constituency home 9 Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his Westminster flat 10 Mr Curry’s work as Chairman of Dairy UK 10 Appendix 1: Memorandum from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 12 Appendix 2: Memorandum from Mr David Curry to the Committee 120 Formal Minutes 123 Mr David Curry 3 Mr David Curry Introduction 1. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has sent us the report of his investigation into two matters referred to him by the Rt hon Member for Skipton and Ripon, Mr David Curry. The Commissioner’s memorandum is published at Appendix 1. In accordance with our usual practice, we provided Mr Curry with a copy of the Commissioner’s memorandum and invited him to give evidence. Mr Curry sent us written evidence, which is published at Appendix 2. 2. Mr Curry was a member of this Committee from 2006 to March 2009. He returned to the Committee in October 2009 and was elected as Chairman. On 23 November 2009, Mr Curry wrote to the Commissioner, asking him to investigate two allegations made in a national newspaper in relation to his claims for allowances in respect of his second home and his work as Chairman of Dairy UK.1 Mr Curry immediately ceased to play any part in the work of the Committee. He was formally discharged from it on 26 November. 3. The rules of the House permit Members to claim from their allowances for costs wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred when staying overnight away from their designated main home, for the purpose of performing Parliamentary duties.2 Since 2006, Members have also been under an explicit obligation to bear in mind the need to obtain value for money from their use of allowances. The Commissioner reports that the essence of the first allegation against Mr Curry was that he had made claims against his allowances for the costs of his additional home in North Yorkshire which were not wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing his Parliamentary duties and which failed to have sufficient regard to obtaining value for money from the accommodation.3 4. Mr Curry informed the Commissioner that during a period of marital separation in 2004–05, he had continued to designate his Essex property as his main home but had changed the designation of his second home from his constituency cottage to a rented flat in London. The rules at the time stipulated that the location of a Member’s main home was normally a matter of fact, but that where a Member had more than one home their main home would normally be where the Member spent more nights than at any other. The Commissioner has also considered as part of his inquiry whether Mr Curry’s designation of his main home was within the rules.4 5. The essence of the second allegation was that Mr Curry did not adequately register his employment as Chairman of Dairy UK in the Register of Members’ Interests from 2005 to 2008 and that he used his Parliamentary staff to support him in this employment.5 1 Appendix 1, paragraph 2 2 Appendix 1, paragraphs 8 to 19 3 Appendix 1, paragraph 6 4 Appendix 1, paragraph 6 5 Appendix 1, paragraph 7 4 Mr David Curry Members are required under the terms of a Resolution of the House to deposit with the Commissioner a copy of any agreement which involves the provision of services in their capacity as a Member of Parliament.6 The agreement must include a statement that the Member will not be required to engage in advocacy. The rules also state that the purpose of the Members’ staffing allowance is to meet costs wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred on the provision of staff to help Members perform their Parliamentary duties.7 The Commissioner’s findings Mr Curry’s claims in respect of his constituency home 6. As noted above, between April 2004 and July 2005 Mr Curry designated a flat in London as his second home for allowance purposes. At all other times, his designated second home has been a cottage in his constituency. The Commissioner notes that Mr Curry has consistently designated his family home in Essex as his main home.8 Mr Curry did not seek advice from the House authorities on the designation of his homes for allowance purposes.9 7. Over the period 1 April 2004 to 30 November 2009, Mr Curry was paid just under £65,000 from his second home allowances (following a later repayment by Mr Curry, the revised total is £64,120).10 8. Mr Curry told the Commissioner that before 2004, he divided his nights broadly evenly between his main home in Essex, his cottage in Yorkshire, and his wife’s London house; that from April 2004 to April 2005, including recesses, he spent the majority of his nights in his cottage, and the remainder in London, with very few nights spent in Essex; and that from June 2005 to November 2009 (aside from holidays) he spent almost every night in his Essex home, although he began to make more use of the cottage from April 2009. From November 2007 to June 2008, the cottage was uninhabitable and Mr Curry says that between August 2007 and June 2008 he spent up to three nights a week with his terminally- ill father in Leeds. Mr Curry told the Commissioner that he had made extensive daytime use of the cottage, using it as a base for working visits to his constituency.11 However, on Mr Curry’s own evidence he spent just six nights in the cottage while on Parliamentary business in financial years 2006–07 to 2008–09.12 9. The Commissioner fully accepts that Mr Curry made daytime and evening use of his cottage when in the constituency on Parliamentary business.13 However, his view is that such use of a second home is “ancillary to its primary purpose.” He writes that: 6 Appendix 1, paragraphs 22 to 25 7 Appendix 1, paragraphs 20 and 21 8 Appendix 1, paragraph 142 9 Appendix 1, paragraph 145 10 Appendix 1, paragraph 144 11 Appendix 1, paragraph 31 12 Appendix 1, paragraph 143 13 Appendix 1, paragraph 164 Mr David Curry 5 The clear and stated intention of the rule is to meet the necessary costs incurred by a Member when staying overnight away from their main UK residence for the purpose of performing their parliamentary duties.
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