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MANAGEMENT AND MEMBERS’ STANDARDS COMMITTEE FIRST REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2003-04 MANAGEMENT AND MEMBERS’ STANDARDS COMMITTEE The Hon J A Brown SHK (Castletown) Mr D M Anderson MHK (Glenfaba) Mr J D Q Cannan MHK (Michael) Mr Q B Gill MHK (Rushen) The remit of the Committee is stated in Standing Order 40 adopted by the House on 28th January 2003 40 The Management and Members’ Standards Committee shall- (1) consider and report on any matter which concerns the business, precincts or facilities of the House which is not within the remit of any other Committee of the House or Mr Speaker alone; (2) represent the House in all matters brought before any chambers of the Legislature other than legislation, and to report thereon from time to time to the House; (3) consider and report upon any matter that may from time to time be referred to the Committee by the House, or by a Member, which relates to the conduct of a Member; (4) consider and report on such standards and such privileges of the House and of Members as have been, or in the future should be, recognised as necessary and desirable for the proper and effective discharge of the duties of the House and its Members. C/HKManSt/mck Copies of this Report may be obtained from the Tynwald Library, Legislative Buildings, Bucks Road, Douglas IM1 3PW (Tel 01624 685516, Fax 01624 685522) or may be consulted at www.tynwald.org.im All correspondence with regard to this Report should be addressed to the Secretary of the House of Keys, Legislative Buildings, Bucks Road, Douglas IM1 3PW. ABBREVIATIONS USED IN ENDNOTES App. Appendix CR Report of an Inquiry into Planning and Development and other matters at Mount Murray by Professor Stephen Crow – December 2000 Hansard Official Record of oral evidence to the Management and Members’ Standards Committee by named witnesses – September 2003 MMR Part I of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Development matters at Mount Murray - June 2003 2 C/HKManSt/mck To: The Hon James Anthony Brown SHK, Speaker of the House, and the Hon Members of the House of Keys MANAGEMENT AND MEMBERS’ STANDARDS COMMITTEE FIRST REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2003-04 The subjects addressed in this Report 1. By letter dated 24th July 2003, addressed to the Secretary of the House, the following reference to your Committee was made:- Further to the finding of the Commission of Inquiry into Mount Murray (at page 133 of its Part One Report) that, on 7th April 1992, the Hon Member for Ramsey, Mr Bell, knowingly misled the House of Keys:- (1) whether the making of the Hon Member’s statement (of 7th April 1992) may be treated as a contempt: and (2) what disciplinary action should be taken in this matter. 2. The letter making this reference is at Appendix 1, signed by five Members of the House: Mrs B J Cannell (Douglas East), Mr P A Gawne (Rushen), Mr J R Houghton (Douglas North), Mr P Karran (Onchan) and Mr R E Quine (Ayre). It was followed by a letter dated 29th July 2003 from Mr R W Henderson (Douglas North) supporting the reference; that letter is likewise at Appendix 1. 3 C/HKManSt/mck 3. Also at Appendix 1 is a letter dated 17th July 2003 from Hon A R Bell (Ramsey) addressed to Mr Speaker, and received by him on 6th August 2003, making the following reference to your Committee:- I request the Management and Members’ Standards Committee of the House, constituted under Standing Order 38, to examine and report on the conclusion at paragraph 11.134 of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Mount Murray that I knowingly misled the House in the circumstances there described. 4. The circumstances in which this latter reference was dated 17th July, but only received by Mr Speaker on 6th August, were explained by Mr Bell in evidence to us.i In summary, Mr Bell’s evidence is that the letter making the reference was drafted by the Secretary of the House for him during the July sitting of Tynwald and that because of various other concerns and commitments at the time he did not send it off until he had returned from a short holiday after Tynwald had concluded. Mr Bell says that the letter was then sent to the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office, though in fact it was sent to Mr Speaker at his home address: it was received by him on 6th August and then faxed by him to the Tynwald Office the same day. Membership and Proceedings of the Committee 5. At Appendix 2 is the correspondence between the Secretary of the House and the members of the Committee, together with the minutes and copies of general correspondence. Those papers are of a kind not normally attached to reports of committees, but we have decided that they should, exceptionally, accompany this Report in the interests of total transparency. 6. Under Standing Orders 38 and 39, Mr Speaker is ex officio both a member and the chairman of the Management and Members’ Standards Committee. 4 C/HKManSt/mck 7. From the correspondence at Appendix 2, it will be seen that there was a preliminary meeting of three members of your Committee on 7th August 2003 (following a meeting of the Tynwald Standards and Members’ Interests Committee, to whom the initial reference had been incorrectly circulated by the Office) at which the position of Mr Speaker had been raised by Mr Cannan. Mr Cannan’s letter to the Secretary of 8th August 2003 explains his concern and the circumstances in which he raised it. 8. The meeting on 7th August 2003 had been preceded by a letter from the Secretary of the House dated 4th August 2003 to Mr Speaker, explaining the circumstances of the papers having been too widely circulated, and advising Mr Speaker with regard to the request made in the five Members’ letter of 24th July 2003 that he should not participate in consideration of the reference which they had made. 9. Following the meeting on 7th August, the letter dated 8th August 2003 from Mr Speaker to the Secretary of the House was sent stating that, because he had that day learnt that he would be required as a witness in Part Two of the Mount Murray Inquiry, he would not participate in the Committee’s deliberations leading to this present Report. 10. It has been mentioned that Mr Speaker is, under Standing Order 39, named as the chairman of your Committee ex officio. In the circumstances just described of Mr Speaker withdrawing from consideration of the present matter, it was decided unanimously that the Committee would proceed with its business without electing a chairman. The Secretary of the House and Counsel to the Speaker has given it as his opinion that such a course was properly open to the Committee and implied no breach of Standing Orders. 5 C/HKManSt/mck Legal Issues 11. Included at Appendix 2 is the correspondence which has been exchanged by the Secretary and the firm of Advocates advising Mr Bell. 12. It will be seen that a variety of issues was raised on Mr Bell’s behalf by Mr Seth Caine and that decisions as to the correct manner of proceeding were required. In particular it was asserted (i) that your Committee had been asked in effect to determine a ‘criminal charge’, (ii) that we should hear de novo all the evidence relating to the conclusion that Mr Bell had knowingly mislead the House, and not rely on the findings of the Commission, and (iii) that no evidence should be taken from Mr Nigel Macleod QC. 13. After examining the issues raised by Mr Bell’s Advocate, the Secretary advised the Committee in a minute dated 15th September 2003. Your Committee were satisfied that the advice tendered to them was appropriate and the Secretary’s letter to Mr Seth Caine dated 19th September 2003 indicates the conclusions which we reached with regard to the representations Mr Caine had made. 14. In the event, no specific challenge to the findings of the Mount Murray Commission was made, and there was no request by or on behalf of Mr Bell to recall or cross-examine any witness. Your Committee are entirely satisfied, and are so advised, that they are fully entitled to treat the findings of the Mount Murray Commission as established and decisive on the issues they relate to in the absence of any specific and convincing challenge to them. 15. Although, as we have said, no such challenge was made, we have nonetheless sought and received further evidence bearing upon the exact questions which have been referred to us, and have received oral or written evidence from the following witnesses:- 6 C/HKManSt/mck Mr Dominic Delaney MLC Mr Terry Toohey Mr Colin Magee Hon A R Bell MHK Mrs B J Cannell MHK The Chief Secretary The Secretary of the Commission of Inquiry into Mount Murray 16. The oral evidence is recorded in the Official Reports of the hearings at Appendix 3, which also includes the written and documentary evidence submitted. We have naturally taken into account the comments made by Mr Bell in Tynwald at the July sitting of the Court and those made by him on Manx Radio as well. The relevant transcripts are included at Appendix 3. 17. Your Committee also invited oral evidence from Mr Nigel Macleod QC, as chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into Mount Murray. The Secretary’s letter of invitation dated 19th August 2003 and Mr Macleod’s reply dated 18th September 2003 are included at Appendix 2.