MPs' letters rules 'need clarity'

MPs have a communications allowance and an incidental expenses provision

Rules on MPs' use of Parliamentary stationery need to be "clarified" after complaints it was used for political purposes, says a Commons committee.

MPs are not allowed to use pre-paid envelopes or official stationery for party political or campaigning letters.

But a total ban on any expression of support for a policy or position was ruled out as "over-restrictive".

Instead the test should be whether a party political reference is "necessary to an understanding of the issue".

It follows an investigation into the Labour MP Dari Taylor's use of stationery bearing the official Parliamentary portcullis logo - following a complaint from a Conservative Party member that six letters had breached the rules.

'Clearly drawn'

The complainant, James Wharton, said she had sent unsolicited letters "to promote party political points" - including references to "the Labour government" and the "Labour council" - using House of Commons green crested notepaper in a first class pre-paid envelope.

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon upheld complaints relating to three letters and a fourth in part- Ms Taylor had said she had tried to follow the rules which were complex and "ambivalent".

It should rarely be necessary to identify the political persuasion of the government of the day John Lyon Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

After the case the commissioner advised the Commons standards and privileges committee that the distinction between Parliamentary business and campaigning be more "clearly drawn".

In any communication funded by allowances, questions should be asked about "whether any party political reference is strictly necessary" to understand what the MP had done.

He added: "It should rarely be necessary to identify the political persuasion of the government of the day, nor of the local council or of the individuals whom the member refers to - for good or ill."

Any such reference should be "essential to an understanding of the central point of the communication".

But he stopped short of suggesting a total ban on references to parties and policies - and the committee agreed that would be "unrealistic and unreasonable".

MPs should "be free to comment on the policies of the various executive bodies - the government, local councils and official agencies - that have an impact on the lives of those they represent," the committee said.

There was also a difference between sending out a letter "proactively", or simply responding to one which may include party political comments, where it would be "unfair" to stop MPs making any such references in response.

And MPs should be able to use Commons stationery to reply to emails, telephone, text messages or comments on their blogs "so long as the member's reply is dealing specifically with the matter raised by the constituent", it said.

Rules on stationery and pre-paid envelopes and those on the £10,000-a-year communications allowance, used to fund websites and other publicity material, are governed by two separate departments and different guidance papers.

The committee backed the commissioner's recommendations that there be one source of advice for all stationery issues and rules on both should be consolidated into two new sections of the Commons' Green Book.

It also said restrictions on using allowances to fund party political or campaigning activity should be "clarified".

MPs voted last year to give themselves a £10,000 allowance to spend on boosting the public understanding of Parliament. They also have an "incidental expenses provision" - worth about £20,000 a year, which can be used to buy office supplies.

Among MPs who have recently fallen foul of the rules on the communication allowance are Labour's Paul Flynn - who says he lost part of it for making fun of other MPs on his blog.