Question

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that secretariats of All-Party Parliamentary Groups do not pass sensitive information to foreign governments.

The Commission does not control or regulate All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).

The rules for APPGs are approved by the House. The Guide to the APPG Rules by the Committee on Standards makes clear that each group’s Chair and Registered Contact is responsible for ensuring that if any person or organisation provides a secretariat or support service, that person or organisation is aware of and complies with the rules of the House. Members of the House are subject to the provision in the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament that “Members must only use information which they have received in confidence in the course of their parliamentary activities in connection with those activities, and never for other purposes”.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards may investigate allegations of a breach of the Code of Conduct and the associated APPG Rules, and he may report to the Committee on Standards any findings from such an investigation.