Vote to take place on plan to exclude MPs arrested for sex offences
Plans to exclude MPs who are under investigation for sexual and violent offences will be put to a vote after the February recess, Penny Mordaunt has said.
The Commons Leader did not provide an exact date for the vote, and said she wanted MPs to have the time to scrutinise the plans.
MPs debated proposals on the issue in June, but civil service unions criticised the decision not to hold a vote at the time and warned against kicking the issue into the long grass.
Shadow Commons Leader Lucy Powell questioned Ms Mordaunt in the Commons on Thursday over the timetable for a vote.
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The Labour frontbencher said: “I was glad to see the motion on risk-based exclusion of Members laid last week, but when will she schedule a debate and a vote on it?
“Once again, there is no motion on the Procedure Committee’s recommendations on holding secretaries of state in the Lords to account.”
Ms Mordaunt replied: “She asks me about risk-based exclusion. We have put that motion on future business and she knows that we will bring forward a debate and a vote on that after recess.
“But I do want Members of this House to have time to make themselves aware of that and to also ask myself and other commission members questions about it.”
Currently, MPs are only prevented from attending the parliamentary estate by voluntary arrangements with their own party whips if they are arrested for sex offences.
The House of Commons Commission published in December updated proposals to establish a formal system for what has become known as a risk-based exclusion process.
The proposals define the threshold at which MPs face being banned from the estate more explicitly than in earlier plans as at the point of arrest.
This is a lower threshold than the original proposal to start a risk assessment only once an MP is charged with a crime.
Under the plans, a panel, which is expected to include senior MPs, will carry out a risk assessment based on information from the police alongside any existing voluntary arrangements for the MP to stay away from Westminster.
The panel could then decide that the MP should be barred if they are deemed to pose a threat to the parliamentary community.
Civil service unions have welcomed the updated proposals.
A large number of MPs have been embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations in recent years, including one unnamed MP who was able to "continue to offend" despite warnings from fellow politicians about their behaviour.
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