Committee publication · Report · 12 June 2025 · HC 943

3rd Report – Register of Interests of Members' Staff

Government response deadline: 12 August 2025

Summary

The Committee on Standards recommends expanding the Register of Interests of Members' Staff to include all staff with parliamentary network accounts, not just those holding physical passes. Currently ~2,000 staff hold passes while 4,202 have network accounts; the expansion would require a House resolution and would be enabled by an IT solution within the existing registration portal.

Key findings

More than half of Members' staff (approximately 2,202 of 4,202) have full access to parliamentary information and materials via network accounts without being required to register interests.
Parliamentary network accounts now confer equivalent privileged access to parliamentary facilities as physical passes, making the current distinction obsolete given modern working practices.
The Parliamentary Digital Service and Registrar have agreed to develop an IT solution enabling Members to add/remove staff within the existing Registration Portal, avoiding burdensome administrative tasks.
Registration thresholds remain unchanged at £450 for occupations, gifts, benefits, and hospitality; single-day passes are excluded from the new arrangements.
The Committee will review the Code of Conduct within two years, providing an opportunity to address registration timings and staff responsibilities, as Members currently have 28-day registration deadlines while staff have none.

Recommendations

Expand the Register of Interests of Members' Staff to include both staff who hold a permanent photo-identity pass and those who have been granted a parliamentary network account.
Invite the Leader of the House to table a motion amending the Resolution of 28 June 1993 to give effect to the expansion with appropriate transitional arrangements agreed by the Committee.
Enable the Registrar to develop an IT solution within the existing Registration Portal to provide an authoritative list of Members' staff, with optional delegation to office managers.
Address registration timings and staff responsibilities during the forthcoming Code of Conduct review within two years.

Tone

Procedural

Topics

parliamentary-standardstransparencyregisters-of-interestparliamentary-administrationconduct-regulation

Key actors

Alberto Costa, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, Registrar for Members' Financial Interests, Parliamentary Digital Service, Committee on Standards

Notable line

“… more than half the staff employed by Members were not required to make a transparency return.”

Key Quotes

“Nowadays, having access to parliamentary digital facilities (including an email address) confers as much potential preferential access as a pass to the Estate.”
— Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (Daniel Greenberg) · Justifying the expansion of registration requirements

“At the beginning of this year, around 2,000 passes had been issued to Members' staff while 4,202 had parliamentary network accounts. In other words, more than half the staff employed by Members were not required to make a transparency return.”
— Committee on Standards · Identifying the gap in current registration coverage

“The principled argument for inclusion depends on privileged access to parliamentary facilities, not on holding a position in support of a Member per se.”
— Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (Daniel Greenberg) · Explaining the rationale for limiting expansion to pass and network account holders only

“The Registrar and the Parliamentary Digital Service are developing an IT solution within the existing registration portal to provide an authoritative list of Members' staff without creating any burdensome administrative task for Members.”
— Committee on Standards · Addressing implementation concerns regarding administrative burden

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗