Recommendation 16

We welcome the clarification by the House of Commons’ Clerk Assistant and Director of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) of the circumstances in which the policies and procedures of the ICGS apply to the behaviour of MPs in 48 Equality in the heart of democracy: A gender sensitive House of Commons House of Commons proceedings. The distinction between MPs speech and writing, such as speeches and interventions in the chamber and formal discussions and papers in Committee meetings, that is part of a proceeding and therefore outside of the scope of the ICGS, and behaviours that might occur during a proceeding, such as whispering, note-passing and unwanted physical touching, but do not form part of the formal proceeding and are therefore covered by the ICGS, is a clear and helpful one. We recommend that this distinction be clearly set out in updated guidance on the new ICGS Hub. We welcome the Committee on Standards’ inclusion of this issue in its broader review and consultation on changes to the Code of Conduct, and its proposal that Mr Speaker should, in certain circumstances, particularly those related to alleged bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, have the option to refer MPs behaviour in the chamber and other proceedings to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for investigation under ICGS policies and procedures. We encourage MPs, and staff, to submit their views on this to the Committee on Standards’ consultation. (Paragraph 117) Maintaining institutional focus and driving further reforms