Contents Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 1 Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP Contents Page Rt Hon Sadiq Khan: Resolution letter 2 Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Paul Scully MP 2 Written

Restricted: Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 1

Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP

Contents

Page

Rt Hon Sadiq Khan: Resolution letter 2 Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Paul Scully MP 2

Written evidence received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 3 1. Letter from Mr Paul Scully MP to the Commissioner, 25 March 2016 3 2. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to the Commissioner, 31 March 2016 4 3. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, 4 April 2016 5 4. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to the Commissioner, 14 April 2016 9 5. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to the Commissioner, 25 April 2016 10 6. Letter from the Commissioner to the Registrar, 3 May 2016 13 7. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, 3 May 2016 13 8. Letter from the Registrar to the Commissioner, 12 May 2016 14 9. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, 24 May 2016 18 10. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan to the Commissioner, 7 June 2016 19 11. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, 4 August 2016 22 12. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan to the Commissioner, 2 September 2016 24 13. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, 6 September 2016 24


Rt Hon Sadiq Khan: Resolution letter

Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Paul Scully MP

I have now completed my inquiries into your allegation about Rt Hon Sadiq Khan. In essence, the complaint I have investigated is that contrary to the rules of the House, Mr Khan did not register certain of his financial interests in the Register of Members’ 5 Financial Interests within the 28-day time limit set by the House. I have also considered whether Mr Khan omitted to make some further registrations and whether there is evidence of any failure to make required declarations concerning any interests which were registered late. 10 As you can see from the correspondence I have exchanged with Mr Khan, it is clear that he registered outside the 28-day timeframe on many occasions and by a varying number of days. I therefore uphold that element of your allegation. I have not found evidence either of omission to register in the Register of Members’ 15 Financial Interests donations which the House would have expected to have been disclosed, nor have I found evidence of failure to declare in relation to those donations which were registered late. I do not, therefore, uphold those aspects of your allegation. Mr Khan has acknowledged and apologised for his late registrations during the 2010 20 and 2015 Parliaments. I consider Mr Khan has made an acceptable response and that the rectification action is sufficient to bring the matter to a close. I will report the matter briefly to the Committee on Standards. In due course, this letter and the relevant evidence (a copy of which I enclose) will be made available on my parliamentary web-pages. 25 I am copying this letter to Mr Khan. 6 September 2016

30


Written evidence received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

1. Letter from Mr Paul Scully MP to the Commissioner, 25 March 2016

It has come to my attention that the Member of Parliament for Tooting, Rt. Hon. Sadiq 5 Khan, appears to have breached Parliamentary rules on a number of occasions with regard to the late declaration of donations on the Register of Members’ Parliamentary Interests and an apparent failure to declare other donations on the Register.

My understanding is that Members are required to register any changes in registrable interests within 28 days, and donations are within the scope of this. 10

According to the Electoral Commission and the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, Mr. Khan appears to have either registered a number of donations beyond the 28 day period, or failed to register donations altogether. These failures are substantial—they cover donations worth over £300,000. They include £60,000 from Unite, £63,000 from the London Tea Exchange, and £10,000 from Cool Investments Ltd. I enclose a spreadsheet 15 detailing the donations for your reference.1

The consequences of late registrations and an inaccurate Register are clear: Mr. Khan will have spoken in a number of Parliamentary debates and he would have been unable to point other Members of Parliament to possible conflicts of interest as his entries were not accurate. 20

Paragraph 8 of the Guide to the Rules relating to that conduct of Members states: “The main purpose of declaration of interest is to ensure that Members of the House and the public are made aware, at the appropriate time when a Member is making a speech in the House or in Committee or participating in any other proceeding of the House, of any past, present or expected future interest direct or indirect, which might reasonably be thought 25 by others to be relevant to those proceedings.”

These appear to be serious omissions and irregularities in Mr. Khan’s Register of Parliamentary Interests and I believe that an investigation should be conducted into breach of the Code of Conduct, in parliament Paragraph 13.

For the avoidance of doubt I am referring to Paragraph 13 of the 2009 House of Commons 30 Code of Conduct (amended in 2012 and repeated in the 2015 edition) which beings by saying: “Members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of registration of interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.”

I look forward to hearing from you.

25 March 2016 35

1 Spreadsheet not included here. The Register of Members’ Financial Interests is available on the Parliament website


2. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to the Commissioner, 31 March 2016

I am writing as it has come to my attention, through inquiries by the press, that the Conservative Party has released a letter from Paul Scully MP to you, making allegations regarding my Parliamentary Register of Interests. 5

I have seen a copy of the letter from Mr Scully and the spreadsheet that he apparently enclosed.

The letter from Mr Scully includes the allegation that I have “failed to register donations altogether”. This is not the case. The donations that Mr Scully is referring to were donations given to Tooting Constituency Labour Party, not to me or for my benefit, and so 10 therefore were not required to be registered. Most were from trade unions, and were not declarable in accordance with paragraph 18b) of the Code of Conduct.

The spreadsheet also includes many inaccuracies. For example:

It states that the amount of a donation from the GMB registered on 8 June 2010 was incorrectly declared on the Register, compared to Electoral Commission records. This 15 is incorrect. The register states £11,000 rather than £12,000 because there was a separate donation of £1,000 to the Tooting Constituency Labour Party, not to me or for my benefit.

It claims that I declared a donation from Henley Homes PLC (registered on 20 January 2015) over a year late. In fact, due to a typographical error, the Electoral Commission’s 20 records are incorrect and they have been asked to correct this (and some other inaccuracies in their records).

It lists donations received by my constituency party before I first joined the House, or that were delayed in being reported as they were accepted during a General Election campaign when Parliament was dissolved. 25

I note that the majority of Mr Scully’s non-registration allegations relate to donations accepted more than seven years ago. This is of course a relevant factor, for the reasons set out in paragraph 53 of your Information Note.

I have always worked to ensure donations received by me, or where applicable my constituency party, are declared as quickly as practicable in accordance with the Code of 30 Conduct.

I do think it would be regrettable for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ office to be used as a political football, rather than being allowed to focus on investigating serious and systematic breaches of the rules.

Please let me know if I can be further assistance as you consider what action, if any, you 35 need to take in response to Mr Scully’s letter.

31 March 2016


3. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, 4 April 2016

I know that you have already seen a copy of a letter sent to me by Mr Paul Scully MP on 25 March 2016. I have considered that letter very carefully, as well as the information in your letter of 31 March. (I received both letters within a short time of each other on the 5 31st.)

In accordance with my usual practice, I have considered whether the matters raised are within my remit and whether there is sufficient evidence to justify an inquiry. Given that both of those criteria are met, I have decided to begin an inquiry. I would welcome your help with this. 10

My Inquiry

In essence, the scope of my inquiry will include the registration of your financial interests since May 2010. I do not normally begin inquiries into allegations relating to matters which occurred more than seven years ago and do not consider it necessary to ask the permission of the Committee on Standards to so on this occasion. In the course of my inquiry I will 15 consider whether the rules of the House required the declaration of any such financial interests during parliamentary or other proceedings.

The Code of Conduct

Paragraph 13 of the 2009 House of Commons Code of Conduct (amended in 2012) said:

Members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of 20 registration of interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. They shall always be open and frank in drawing attention to any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communication with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders.

This paragraph is repeated in the 2015 Code of Conduct. 25

The Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members

Paragraph 7 of the Guide to the Rules accompanying the 2009 Code said:

The main purpose of the Register is to give public notification on a continuous basis of those financial interests held by Members which might be thought to influence their parliamentary conduct or actions. 30

Paragraph 8 of the Guide said:

The main purpose of declaration of interest is to ensure that Members of the House and the public are made aware, at the appropriate time when a Member is making a speech in the House or in Committee or participating in any other proceedings of the House, of any past, present or expected future interest direct or indirect, which might 35 reasonably be thought by others to be relevant to those proceedings.


Registration

Paragraph 11 of the Guide set out the duties of Members in respect of registration. It said:

Members of Parliament are required to complete a registration form and submit it to the Commissioner within one month of their election to the House (whether at a General Election or at a by-election.) After initial publication of the Register (or in the 5 case of Members returned at by-elections, after their initial registration) it is the responsibility of Members to notify changes in their registrable interest within four weeks of each change occurring.

There were 12 categories under which registrations were required during the 2010 Parliament. Category 4 registrations related to sponsorships. These were defined as: 10

(a) any donation received by a Member’s constituency party or association, or relevant grouping of associations which is liked either to candidacy at an election or to membership of the House; and

(b) any other form of financial or material support as a Member of Parliament amounting to more than £1,500 from a single source, whether as a single 15 donation or as multiple donations of more than £500 during the course of a calendar year

Paragraph 30 of the Guide said:

Category 4(a) deals with financial contributions to constituency parties or associations 20 or (where the party is organised other than on a constituency basis) the relevant grouping of associations. Such reporting to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests is additional to the statutory reporting requirements of local political party accounting units to the Electoral Commission under PPERA. For the purposes of the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, support should be regarded as “linked” if it is expressly 25 tied to the Member by name, e.g. if it is a contribution to a Member’s fighting fund or a donation which has been invited or encouraged by the Member or candidate. Financial contributions to constituency associations, parties or area associations, etc. which are not linked to a Member’s candidacy or membership of the House, that is where the donation would have been forthcoming irrespective of the identity of the candidate or 30 Member, and the candidate or Member has played no part in securing it, do not have to be registered on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Paragraph 33 of the Guide explained that “Category 4(b) covers any other financial or material benefit in support of a Member’s role as a Member of Parliament…. Such support is registrable whether it is provided directly to a Member or is a donation made to a 35 Member’s central party or organisation with a wish that it should be allocated to the support of a particular Member or front-bench office.” Paragraph 34 said “Members standing for election to non-parliamentary office (for instance election to a devolved institution, elected mayoralty or party office) should register donations received to support such candidacy.” 40

In May 2015 a new Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members took effect. The 12 registration categories were reduced to 10 categories. A new


category 2 replaced category 4. Since May 2015 “Donations and other support for activities as a Member of Parliament” have been registrable under Category 2. A copy of the relevant part of the new Guide is enclosed. While the rules are expressed differently with changed paragraph numbering, the essential points are unchanged.

Declaration 5

Paragraph 72 of the Guide to the Rules accompanying the 2009 Code said:

In 1974 the House replaced a long standing convention with a rule that any relevant financial interest or benefit of whatever nature, whether direct or indirect, should be declared in debate, or other proceeding. The same rule places a duty on Members to disclose to Ministers, or servants of the Crown, all relevant interests. The term ‘servants 10 of the Crown’ should be interpreted as applying to the staff of executive agencies as well as to staff employed in government departments.

Paragraph 73 explained that:

The rule relating to declaration of interest is broader in scope than the rules relating to the registration of interests in three important respects. As well as current interest, 15 Members are required to declare both relevant past interests and relevant interests which they may be expecting to have. In practice only interests held in the recent past, i.e. those current within the previous twelve months, need normally be considered for declaration….”

Paragraph 74 defined the test of relevance: 20

…. The basic test of relevance should be the same for declaration as it is for registration of an interest; namely, that a financial interest should be declared if it might reasonably be thought by others to influence the speech, representation or communication in question….

Key dates - 2010 25

Parliament dissolved on 12 April 2010. Members elected in May 2010 were required to make their first registration within a month of their election, i.e. by 4 June 2010, and then to make registrations within 28 days of a change occurring.

Key dates - 2015

Parliament dissolved on 30 March 2015. Members elected in May 2015 were again 30 required to make their first registration within a month of their election, by 7 June 2015. Returning Members were advised, upon re-election, to register any interests arising under the 2009 rules which had not yet been registered. After that they were again required to register any changes to their interests within 28 days.

Next steps 35

I would welcome your response to this allegation, taking account of the requirements of the then Code of Conduct and, in particular, this summary of the most relevant rules.


In particular, it would be helpful to know:

The circumstances that have led to the late registration of some of your financial interests between May 2010 and the end of March 2016. (A preliminary analysis of successive register entries shows prima facie evidence of late registration of overseas visits in 2010 and 2013, and numerous late registrations of 5 sponsorship/donations since June 2010. For example, in the most recent Register, around half of 40 donations were registered outside of the 28 day-limit set by the House.)

The correct date for the donation from Henley Homes plc registered on 20 January 2015. (In your letter you say that the date in their register is incorrect and that there 10 are other inaccuracies in the Electoral Commission records. It would be most helpful if you would draw to my attention any such errors you have identified.)

Whether there are any occasions since May 2010 on which the rules would have required you to make a declaration of any of these interests and when you have not done so 15

The basis for your confidence in the answer to the previous question – e.g. a summary of the steps you have taken to ascertain that you would/would not have been required to make a declaration or declarations

Whether you sought advice from the House authorities on any occasion about whether registration and/or declaration of such interests might be necessary and, if 20 so, what advice you received

Whether you are confident that your current registration is fully up-to-date and either the basis for that confidence or details of any further payments now requiring registration.

In your letter of 31 March 2016, you say that the sponsorship/donations registered by 25 Tooting Labour Party with the Electoral Commission, which are not registered in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests did not require registration with the House because they were not linked to you. It would be helpful if you would tell me the basis for your confidence on that point.

Any other points you may wish to make to help me with this inquiry would be most 30 welcome.

I enclose a copy of the Commissioner’s Information Note,2 which sets out the procedure I follow. I am writing to the complainant to let him know that I have decided to begin an inquiry into the registration of your financial interests. I will shortly update my parliamentary web pages to show the fact that I am conducting an inquiry into an 35 allegation into this matter. My office will not comment further on any aspect of the inquiry. (They will, however, confirm that I have begun an inquiry if asked before this

2 http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/New%20Website%20Documents/PCS-Information-Note.pdf


information is posted on my webpages and they will answer factual questions about the processes I follow and the standards system more generally.)

As you will be aware, my inquiries are conducted in private. This letter and any subsequent correspondence between us is protected by parliamentary privilege until such time as a final report is published. (Any such report will include all the relevant evidence, including 5 our correspondence.) I would, therefore, ask that you respect that confidentiality.

As a matter of courtesy, I should say now that I will make enquiries of the Registrar and/or other of the House authorities in due course. If I do so, I will share that correspondence with you. While I do not, at this stage, know whether it will be necessary to interview you about this matter, it would be open to you to be accompanied at any such interview. I am, 10 of course, very happy to meet with you at any stage if you would find that helpful.

I would appreciate your help and co-operation and welcome your comments on the allegation, together with any evidence you feel may assist my investigation, as soon as possible and no later than 18 April 2016.

4 April 2016 15

4. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to the Commissioner, 14 April 2016

Thank you very much for your letter dated 4 April with the reference PCS1174.

I have been and continue to work on a full response to your questions, and am prioritising this at what I’m sure you will appreciate is a very busy time for me. 20

There are a number of matters where I need input from my constituency party, who accepted many of the donations in question. The previous Treasurer has emigrated and this is making it difficult to assemble all the documentary evidence needed to produce a complete and accurate reply.

This is exacerbated by the local party Chair (who also acts as the Registered Deputy 25 Treasurer) being out of the country for several weeks.

At this stage, regrettably I do not expect to be able to provide the information you have requested by 18 April. I fully anticipate being able to do so by the following Monday, 25 April.

I apologise for this delay, but do wish to ensure I provide you with accurate information so 30 that your investigation can be concluded as expediently as possible. Please do let me know should you have any questions or concerns with this approach.

14 April 2016


5. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to the Commissioner, 25 April 2016

Thank you for your letter dated 4 April with the reference PCS1174. Further to our recent email exchange, I am still working to provide a complete response including evidence to your questions.3 5

This letter provides an interim response to the points that you raise. I will write again at the first opportunity once a) we have gained access to both my former Parliamentary office mangers’ email accounts; b) my constituency party chair has returned from a lengthy overseas holiday. This will enable me to provide evidence and further information to support my comments below. 10

I’d be grateful if you could confirm whether you need any further information on the points raised below and I will then provide this together with the evidence referenced above. I believe that this will be helpful to your inquiry and so would be grateful if you would not proceed in forming any conclusions until this is provided. Please could you advise me should this approach not seem appropriate to you. 15

Timing of registrations

You have defined the scope of your inquiry to “financial interests since May 2010”. I understand by this that the donations received by my constituency party in April 2010 during the 2010 General Election campaign are out of scope. If this is not the case, I would be grateful if you can clarify the precise scope to of the inquiry, and I will provide 20 additional information as required.

Overseas visits

According to my records, two overseas visits were declared after the 28 day period—one just by a few days and the other by around six weeks. On both these occasions, I registered the overseas visits as soon as possible. The reason for the delay was ascertaining the 25 estimate value of the donations in order to make a correct registration.

Financial donations

As you can see from my entry on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, the vast majority of donations I have received since May 2010 have been within the last year and a half. This is because between May and September 2015, I was seeking my party’s 30 nomination to be the candidate for Mayor of London and following this I have been campaigning in the Mayoral election.

In this context, I received an increased number of donations, as show in the Register. Although the majority of these were registered within 28 days, regrettably, owing to the pressure of the campaign and the increase in the number of donations, the registration of 35 some was late by a few days or weeks, for which I accept full responsibility and would like to apologise.

3 Emails not included – no additional evidence over that in the letter of 14 April 2016


For the remaining few donations I have received since 2010 outside this context, a handful were also registered a short period after the 28 day rule. This was down to administration issues around accepting and registering the donations taking longer than envisaged.

It is evident from reviewing the latest Register that it can be a challenge for many Members to always register donations in a timely fashion. As in my case, I am sure colleagues take 5 the declaration requirements most seriously and I would not seek to criticise them for adhering to the spirit of the rules, if not always the letter. As stated above I accept full responsibility for the delays in adding entries into my section of the Register.

Electoral Commission records

You specifically asked about a donation I declare from Henley Homes. Tooting 10 Constituency Labour Party received a donation from them on 4 November 2014, which was added to my Register entry on 20 January 2015.

Electoral Commission records show this donation as having being received on 4 November 2013. This is incorrect and there must have been a typographical error at some point during the registration and production process. 15

In addition to this, I have identified two duplicate entries on the Electoral Commission’s database (two separate donations both appearing twice):

The first duplicate entry is a donation from London Tea Exchange for £3,250.00 to me (reference number C0204440 and C020772). This is correctly shown on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a single donation, however it is incorrectly shown twice on 20 the Electoral Commission database.

The second duplicate entry is a donation from DCD Properties Ltd for £5,000 to me (reference number C0204439 and C0207771). This is correctly shown on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a single donation, however it is incorrectly shown twice on the Electoral Commission database. 25

I have written to the Electoral Commission asking them to correct their records, enclosing a copy of the relevant bank statement for the Henley Homes donation as provided by my constituency party. If you would like to see this letter and the bank statement, please do let me know.

Declaration of interests 30

Between 2010 and 2015, I was first Shadow Secretary of State for Transport (until September 2010) and thereafter Shadow Secretary of State for Justice (with responsibility for constitutional affairs). From January 2013, I was additionally the Shadow Minister for London. This accordingly limited the topics on which I spoke in the Chamber.

I have of course also worked and campaigned on issues of concern to my constituents. 35

I do not believe that I have ever failed to declare an interest during proceedings in Parliament, which might reasonably have been thought by others to have influenced my contribution. In addition, I do not believe that any of the (generally minor) registration


delays outlined above resulted in a situation where I would have needed to declare an interest as required by the Code.

Advice from Parliamentary authorities

As is usual practice, my office will have liaised with the Registrar’s office on the details of individual registrations. On occasion, I understand this did slightly delay completion of a 5 registration as submissions were updated or checked based on the advice given. I have not needed to seek any advice on the declaration of interests.

Status of my current registration

I have always worked to ensure that donations received by me, or where applicable by my constituency party, have been declared as quickly as practicable in accordance with the 10 Code of Conduct.

Having conducted a full review, I have identified one donation received in October 2015 that should have been declared but was not owing to a communication breakdown. I have today provided full details of this to the Registrar, and understand that it will be included in the next published Register. At this point, I believe my current registration is fully up-to-15 date.

Tooting Constituency Labour Party

As an accounting unit of the Labour Party, my constituency party submits details of donations received above the appropriate threshold to the Electoral Commission via the national Labour Party. 20

I register these donations in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests unless they are not linked to me. I have identified seven donations since May 2010 which fall into this category.

Four of these were from the Communication Workers’ Union and one from UNISON. These all related to ‘constituency development plans’ agreed between the officers of the 25 constituency party and the trade union in question. Based on information provided verbally at the time, I concluded that these would have been agreed regardless of the identity of the Member of Parliament.

The other two donations were from Ann Douglas and Lindsay Thomas. Ann Douglas is a previous secretary of my constituency party, whose donation was made following a change 30 in her personal circumstances. I believe this donation would have been made regardless of the identity of the Member of Parliament.

I am not aware of anyone called Lindsay Thomas, so I do not believe that this donation was connected to me in any way.

If you require further information on these points, the best person to contact would be my 35 constituency party chair (as the previous treasurer has move overseas and will not have access to the party’s records). My party chair has been travelling for the last three weeks and returns to the UK on 1 May; if you have any queries, I would be happy to pass these on to him on this return.


I hope this letter is helpful and covers all the points raised in your letter. If I have inadvertently missed anything, or there are any points on which you would appreciate further information beyond that which I have undertaken to provide, please do not hesitate to let me know.

25 April 2016 5

6. Letter from the Commissioner to the Registrar, 3 May 2016

I would like to ask for your advice on a matter concerning Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP and the registration of his financial interests.

The allegation I am investigating is, in essence, that contrary to the rules of the House, Mr Khan has, since May 2010, not always registered his financial interests within the 28 day 10 time-limit set by the House. You will see from the enclosed correspondence that Mr Khan has acknowledged and apologized for a number of late registrations, as well as providing some information about the circumstances surrounding them.

You will also see that Mr Khan has told me that his office “will have liaised with the Registrar’s office on the details of individual registrations. On occasion, I understand this did 15 slightly delay completion of a registration as submissions were updated or checked based on the advice given.”

In light of the information provided, it would be helpful to have:

• a summary of your contact with Mr Khan and his staff since May 2010;

• a copy of any advice provided to Mr Khan and or his staff since May 2010, 20 including any reminders about the 28-day deadline and any advice given about the estimation of value where that is not known at the time of receipt;

• your comments on the necessity or otherwise for the registration of the seven payments made to Tooting Constituency Labour Party which Mr Khan has .identified as not being linked to him for the purposes of the Register of Members’ 25 Financial Interests’; and

• details of guidance and reminders about the deadlines for registration sent to all Members during the course of the 2010 and 2015 Parliaments.

Any other comments you may wish to make would be most welcome. It would be very helpful to have your response to this letter within the next two weeks. 30

Thank you for your assistance.

3 May 2016

7. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, 3 May 2016

Thank you for your letter of 25 April 2016. In my absence, my Complaints Manager, 35 [name redacted], emailed you about the scope of my inquiry and I can confirm now that her interpretation was correct. My inquiry concerns all registrable items which required


registration within 28 days of the May 2010 election. This includes registrable donations received/accepted during dissolution and those that were received or accepted but not registered in the last 28 days of the previous Parliament.

It would be helpful to know by return whether, as a result of this clarification, there is further information/evidence which you would wish me to consider. I hope that you would 5 be able to provide any such material by 17 May at the latest.

You asked me to let you know if I need more information. I think it would be helpful to have a copy of the letter(s) and supporting evidence you have sent to the Electoral Commission about the errors you have identified in their database concerning the date of one donation from Henley Homes and the double-recording of two payments made by the 10 London Tea Exchange.

I asked whether there are any occasions since May 2010 on which the rules would have required you to declare any of the interests which you had registered late and about the reasons for your confidence in your response to that question. You refer to the limits that your front-bench status placed on the topics on which you might speak during the relevant 15 period and your belief that the delays involved would have resulted in a situation where you would have needed to declare an interest. These responses do not get to the heart of my concerns here. A declaration may be required where an interest has already been registered in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, so my concern is not only about the period between the deadline and any late registration. 20

I think it would be helpful if you could confirm, for example, whether you or one of your staff has reviewed your diary and/or Hansard and considered whether there have been any occasions on which another person might reasonably think any of your financial interests might have influenced your actions or words as a Member. If you have not undertaken such a check, it would be helpful to know what other steps you have taken to assure 25 yourself that you have complied with the expectations of the House vis-à-vis declaration.

For the sake of completeness, I should draw to your attention that the two registrations made on 25 April 2016 were both late. It may be helpful to underline now that the House’s deadline is expressed in terms of a 28-day period rather than a calendar month from receipt/acceptance. 30

I said when I wrote to you before that I might seek the advice of the Registrar and I have today shared with her a copy of your letter of 25 April and sought her comments. I enclose a copy of that letter and I will write to you again when I have her advice.

In the meantime, it would be helpful to have your responses to the questions I have raised above. 35

3 May 2016

8. Letter from the Registrar to the Commissioner, 12 May 2016

Thank you for your letter of 3 May asking for my advice in relation to your investigation into Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP. I have set this out below.

A summary of our contact with Mr Khan and his staff since May 2010 40


Following the May 2010 General Election, Mr Khan submitted a registration form on 8 June 2010. From 2010 to 2014 he registered a small number of items each year. His registered interests were mostly visits outside the UK, payments for ad hoc outside work, or donations to his local party. For the most part we corresponded with Mr Khan’s staff about the content of the register entries, although Mr Khan was usually included in any 5 email exchanges.

In 2015, no doubt as a result of the General Election and his campaign to be elected Mayor, Mr Khan registered an increased number of political donations, mainly “linked donations” to his local party.

A copy of any advice provided to Mr Khan and/or his staff since May 2010, including 10 any reminders about the 28-day deadline and any advice given about the estimation of value where that is not known at the time of receipt.

In general our correspondence with Mr Khan was limited to routine exchanges about his register entries, and requests for clarification or additional information for these. We have however provided Mr Khan or his office with substantive advice on two occasions since 15 2010. In February 2011 his office asked about registering pro bono legal advice and in October 2011 his office asked about the propriety of a proposed arrangement to use the services of someone employed by his local party organisation. I have not provided copies of these emails as they do not seem to me to be directly relevant to your inquiry, but please let me know if you would like to see them. 20

It is our practice when we receive material for a register entry, to format it and to send a draft entry to the Member for approval, usually under cover of a standard email. Since 2011 our standard emails have all included a reminder about the 28-day deadline for making a register entry. Mr Khan and his office will thus have received frequent reminders.

I can see that on two occasions—on 25 January 2015 and on 25 April 2016—we specifically 25 drew Mr Khan’s attention to a late registration, made outside the 28 day requirement. However, the registry team will not always have been aware of any register entries submitted after the 28 day limit set by the House. For example, if the Register update related to a donation made to a Member’s local party organisation but “linked” to them as set out in the Guide to the Rules, the Member would not be required to register the date 30 when the donation was received and accepted. (This is because the main responsibility for reporting these donations rests with the party organisation.) And until May 2015 Members were also not required to give the date on which they had received any remuneration for outside employment, so it was not always possible to tell whether these payments had been registered within 28 days. 35

Mr Khan says that sometimes his register entries were delayed by checks or updates in the light of advice from this office. I should perhaps explain that Mr Khan’s staff sometimes emailed us in the late evening with material for the Register. On those occasions, if all the necessary information was provided, we would give the resultant register update the date of the next working day. I can understand that Mr Khan may not have been aware of this 40 practice. If the information provided was incomplete, we would explain what additional information was needed under the rules of the House. We would then give the register update the date on which all the necessary information was received.


We were not aware that Mr Khan had found it difficult to establish costs, for example for visits outside the UK, so we had not provided any advice on this. I can however see that this could explain the delay in registering his visit to Pakistan in 2010. If we are aware of such problems we now advise Members to register the visit on the basis of an estimated cost, and to update the Register later when more information is available. 5

My comments on the necessity or otherwise for the registration of the seven payments made to Tooting Constituency Labour Party

I agree with Mr Khan that on the basis of the information provided, the donations which were made as part of constituency development plans are not “linked” donations as set out in paragraphs 30 to 32 of the 2009 Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members 10 (HC 735). They do not require registration.

In relation to the donations received from Ann Douglas and Lindsay Thomas in 2014, Mr Khan may be right when he says that these did not need to be registered, but his grounds for saying so are not obvious from his letter. I would have needed to trouble him for more information before I could confirm this. The 2009 Guide to the Rules sets out some matters 15 for Members to consider when deciding whether to register a donation to a local party organisation. In my view it is helpful to consider these in the order in which they are set out in paragraph 30 of the Guide, and also to ask the questions set out in footnote 16. It is not always easy to say exactly what advice would have been given at the time, but I believe I would first have asked Mr Khan whether either donation was a contribution to his fighting 20 fund. If he answered yes the donation would have required registration, even if he did not know the donor, or if he believed that the donation would have been given if the candidate was someone else.

I understand from his letter that Mr Khan had not invited or encouraged these two donations. I would nevertheless have invited him to consider also the questions set out in 25 footnote 16 of the Guide. Only if he had answered no to all these questions in the footnote would I have asked him to confirm that in his view the donations would have been forthcoming irrespective of the identity of the candidate or Member, and that he had played no personal part in securing them. If he had confirmed this I would have advised against registration. I append the relevant guidance from the 2009 Guide to the Rules. 30

Guidance and reminders about registration sent to all Members during the 2010 and 2015 Parliaments

I attach a list of these. In addition, there may have been other reminders sent out by the Chair of the Committee on Standards and Privileges in the 2010 Parliament.

12 May 2016 35

Extract from 2009 Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members

30. Category 4(a) deals with financial contributions to constituency parties or associations, or (where the party is organised otherwise than on a constituency basis) the relevant grouping of associations. Such reporting to the Register of Members' Financial Interests is additional to the statutory reporting requirements of local political party accounting units 40 to the Electoral Commission under PPERA. For the purposes of the Register of Members'


Financial Interests, support should be regarded as "linked" directly to a Member's candidacy or membership of the House if it is expressly tied to the Member by name, eg if it is a contribution to the Member's fighting fund or a donation which has been invited or encouraged by the Member or candidate. Financial contributions to constituency associations, parties or area associations, etc, which are not linked to a Member's candidacy 5 or membership of the House, that is where the donation would have been forthcoming irrespective of the identity of the candidate or Member, and the candidate or Member played no personal part in securing it, do not have to be registered on the Register of Members' Financial Interests.

31. Members who did not sit in the previous Parliament should register all donations 10 linked to their candidacy received in the twelve month period before the date on which they submit their returns to the Registrar.

32. It is not possible to give an exhaustive list of what might be considered ‘linked’ to an individual, and, as always, Members who are in any doubt should consult the Registrar.4

They are also reminded that the requirement to register covers only donations of which 15 they are aware or might reasonably be expected to be aware. Registration by the Member is additional to any registration required of the local organisation.

Communications to all Members about registration since May 2010

These were sent to all Members unless otherwise stated.

May 2010, letter from the Commissioner to all new and returning Members, together with 20 a folder containing the Code of Conduct and new Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members, a registration form and a note on declaring interests

September 2011, email from Registrar to all MPs, with link to advice note on the registration of settlements about phone hacking

April 2012, letter from Chair of Committee on Standards and Privileges to all MPs, 25 accompanying the amended Code of Conduct and new Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members

9 August 2012, email about registering attendance at the Olympics

7 November 2012, email about political donations and sponsorship and donations made following surveys and opinion polls 30

4 July 2013, email about registering visits and political donations

10 December 2013, email from Chair of Committee on Standards, about registering donations or support provided to a local party or association but linked to the Member, and earnings in respect of work done by the Member but paid in to his or her company and not drawn down, and also about confidentiality agreements 35 4 Members might, in this context, ask themselves such questions as ‘Did I write to or meet the donor asking for a

contribution?’ ‘Was a letter sent out headed ‘Campaign to [Re-] Elect [name]’’, ‘Was I the guest of honour at a dinner where donations were sought?’ and ‘Have I a particular relationship to the donor which would not be the case in respect of another candidate?’ If the answer to any of these is ‘Yes’, then the presumption should be in favour of registration.


12 December 2013, email about registering donations or support provided to a local party or association but linked to the Member, and earnings in respect of work done by the Member but paid in to his or her company and not drawn down

18 July 2014, email to staff of Members advertising seminars on the registration process

November 2014, email reminding Members to register political donations, including those 5 received via a central or local party organisation

12 March 2015, email reminding Members about the timetable for registering interests over the Election period, and new rules for APPGs

8 May 2015: letter from the Commissioner to both new and returning Members, together with a copy of a ringbinder containing the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules, a 10 registration form and (in the case of returning Members) a list of changes to the rules

8-11 May 2015: follow up email from the Commissioner, containing similar information to her letter of 8 May.

9 July 2015, letter from the Commissioner enclosing a second ringbinder containing the Code of Conduct and rules of the House, and a reminder about registering overseas visits, 15 gifts benefits and hospitality.

9 May 2016, email from Registrar to staff of MPs, advertising seminars on the registration process

9. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, 24 May 2016

Thank you for your letter of 16 May 2016. 20

I can confirm that the Committee on Standards has agreed that I should complete the inquiry into the late registration of your financial interests which I began before you stepped down as a Member of Parliament on 9 May 2016.

When you wrote to me on 25 April you provided an interim response and sought clarification of the scope of my inquiry while you awaited the return of your constituency 25 party chair and access to your former office manager’s email accounts. I do, of course, appreciate that the last few weeks have been particularly busy for you and, in the meantime, rather than delay any work that I might complete in the interim, I sought the advice of the Registrar of Members’ Financial Interests. I have now reached a stage in the inquiry where progress depends on receipt of more information from you. 30

I enclose a copy of the Registrar’s letter to me for your information. As you can see, the Registrar has said that she would have needed to know more about the circumstances of the donations received from Ann Douglas and Lindsay Thomas in 2014 before she could have advised whether the House required their registration. It would, therefore, be helpful if you could provide the information highlighted in the second paragraph of the third page 35 of the Registrar’s letter (and set out in detail in paragraph 30 of the 2009 Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members) as soon as possible. (I provided a copy of the relevant part of that Guide when I first wrote to you in April.)


I would be grateful to have the information the Registrar has identified, together with any other comments you wish to make on her advice, and any other material that you think might assist me in reaching a decision on the substance of my inquiry, by 7 June 2016.

I would hope that, on receipt of the information outlined above, I would be in a position to decide how to conclude my inquiry. 5

24 May 2016

10. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan to the Commissioner, 7 June 2016

Thank you for your letter dated 24 May 2016. I write in response to that and also to the outstanding questions from your 3 May 2016 letter.

Scope of the inquiry 10

Thank you for confirming the scope of the inquiry. The only additional information that I believe is needed as a result of this clarification is with regard to donations from the GMB trade union in 2010. The difference between the figure reported to the Registrar (£11,000) and the Electoral Commission (£12,000) is a £1,000 Constituency Development Plan payment made by the union to my constituency party. 15

Electoral Commission errors

You said it would be helpful to provide a copy of the correspondence with the Electoral Commission. Please find this enclosed.

The Electoral Commission has accepted that the double recording of payments made by London Tea Exchange and DCD Properties Ltd was an error on their part and they have 20 said they will correct their records.

With regards to the Henley Homes donation, my office provided the Electoral Commission with a bank statement from the Tooting Constituency Labour Party to show that the date of acceptance on the Commission’s records was incorrect. I also enclose this for your information; it clearly shows receipt of the donation in 2014. 25

As this donation was declared via the national Labour Party (as is the standard process for donations to constituency Labour parties), the Electoral Commission has asked for the national Labour Party to contact them directly in order for their records to be corrected. I have requested that this be done.

Declaration of interests 30

You asked for further clarification on whether there were any occasions since May 2010 on which the rules would have required me to declare any interests while speaking in Parliament.

A detailed check of Hansard has been undertaken on my behalf. Between May 2010 and October 2010, I was the Shadow Transport Secretary and I spoke from the front-bench on 35 transport related issues of the time. From the check of Hansard, I am confident that there were no occasions during this period on which the rules would have required me to declare any interests.


Between October 2010 and May 2015, I was the Shadow Justice Secretary and spoke from the front-bench on justice and constitutional issues. From the check of Hansard, I am confident that there were no occasions during this period on which the rules would have required me to declare any interests.

For some of the above period, I was also Shadow Minister for London. I did not speak in 5 the Chamber in that capacity, so no perception of a conflict could have arisen.

Between stepping down from the shadow front-bench in May 2015 and stepping down as a Member of Parliament in May 2016, I spoke in Parliament on 14 occasions, primarily on the big challenges facing London and issues I had been campaigning on for many months. From the check of Hansard, I do not believe that on these occasions another person might 10 have reasonably thought any of my financial interests would have influenced my actions or words.

Constituency Development Plan agreements

I am pleased to note that the Registrar agrees with me that the donations made to Tooting Constituency Labour Party under these agreements did not require registration. 15

Ann Douglas

Mrs Douglas was a longstanding resident of Tooting constituency and had been active in the community and local party long before I first became a Parliamentary candidate. Like many other people involved in local political parties or associations across the country, she made a generous financial contribution to her local party when a change in her personal 20 circumstances enabled her to do so. To explicitly answer the questions in the 2009 Guide:

I did not write to or meet her to ask for a donation

No fundraising appeal letter for my re-election campaign was sent out in advance of her donation—the local party’s practice is to not send such a letter until around the time of Dissolution 25

My constituency party hosts periodic fundraising dinners, with other political figures as the guest of honour. The fundraising is conducted through the cost of the ticket (typically £30–£40) plus incidental activities such as a raffle. Further financial donations are not sought at these events, which have a significant social purpose

I do not consider that Mrs Douglas has or had a particular relationship with me that 30 would have been different had another person been Parliamentary candidate.

Lindsay Thomas

The national Labour Party has provided me with the details used to confirm that Lindsay Thomas was eligible to make this donation. I still have no recollection of ever being aware of Mr Thomas until this complaint was made to you. To explicitly answer the questions in 35 the 2009 Guide:

I did not write to or meet him to ask for a donation


No fundraising appeal letter for my re-election campaign was sent out in advance of his donation, which I note was in advance of the 2014 Council and European elections

My constituency party hosts periodic fundraising dinners, with other political figures as the guest of honour. The fundraising is conducted through the cost of the ticket (typically £30-£40) plus incidental activities such as a raffle. Further financial donations 5 are not sought at these events, which have a significant social purpose

I have no relationship with this donor.

It is worth stressing that the constituency party raised funds for purposes unconnected with my election campaigns, for example to employ a member of staff to support the work of party officers, to fund the work of local councillors, to campaign in Council and 10 European elections and to meet the general administrative and running costs of the party.

I hope that this provides you with the information required to conclude your inquiry and look forward to hearing from you in due course.

7 June 2016

Enclosure: Email from @electoralcommission.org.uk to Office of Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, 15 6 May 2016

Thank you for bringing these to our attention.

Henley Homes plc

This donation was reported to us by the Labour Party in their quarterly report for the fourth quarter of 2014. It was recorded as ‘late’ by the party with the date as currently on 20 our database. In order to change the details of a donation, the party must make the request. I would be grateful if you would contact the central Labour Party to put a request to us (which has to come from the party treasurer).

London Tea Exchange and DGD Properties Ltd

The double entry is an error on our part, for which I apologise. We will amend these 25 shortly.

6 May 2016

Email from the Office of Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP to Electoral Commission, 25 April 2016

I am writing on behalf of Sadiq Khan MP and Tooting Constituency Labour Party (CLP).

I am e-mailing as we have noticed that there are a few errors in the donation records for 30 Sadiq Khan MP and Tooting CLP on the Electoral Commission’s database. We’d be grateful if these could be corrected. The details of the donations are:

1. The Electoral Commission records show that a donation to Tooting CLP from Henley Homes PLC (EC reference: CO143987) is reported as being accepted on 4 November 2013. This is incorrect as the actual acceptance date was a year later—on 4 November 35 2014. There must have been an administration error in recording the year of this donation. We’d be grateful if this could be corrected? I’ve attached a bank statement


showing the date the donation was banked.5

2. We’ve spotted two duplicate entries on the Electoral Commission’s database (two separate donations both appearing twice).

The first duplicate entry is a donation from London Tea Exchange for £3,250.00 to Sadiq Khan MP (reference numbers CO204440 and CO20772). This is one 5 donation that has been reported twice on the Electoral Commission database. You can see from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests that there is only one donation from London Tea Exchange for this amount. Please could the duplicate record be removed?

The second duplicate entry is a donation from DCD Properties Ltd for £5,000 to 10 Sadiq Khan MP (reference numbers CO204439 and CO207771). This is one donation that has been reported twice on the Electoral Commission database and this can be verified by looking at the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Please could the duplicate record also be removed?

Please let me know if you require any further information or documentation in order to 15 correct the records.

25 April 2016

11. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, 4 August 2016

Thank you for your letter of 7 June 2016. I am very sorry I have not been able to reply 20 sooner; my office received an unusually large volume of work during June and July and this has delayed my work in other areas. I have now had the opportunity to consider carefully the information you have provided so far and to make a decision.

My decision

I have not conducted a full analysis of your Register entries for the whole of the 2010 25 Parliament but a brief examination of the relevant Registers provides the following examples of late registration:

A donation from James Goudman QC, accepted on 18 February 2011 and registered on 22 March 2011 (registered on day 33)

A visit to Qatar on 18-21 May 2013, registered on 24 June 2013 (registered on day 30 35 from 21 May)

A donation from Lord Gulam Noon, accepted on 5 December 2014 and registered on 21 January 2015 (registered on day 48).

5 Extract of bank account statement 224 from 29 Oct 2014 to 28 Nov 2014 supplied but not reproduced here


I have examined the 2015 Parliament Registers more closely and I have identified 19 instances since May 2015 when you have registered your financial interests outside the 28-day period determined by the House (see list attached).

It is clear from this analysis that, while a Member, you repeatedly made late registrations of your financial interests, in breach of paragraph 13 of the Code of Conduct and the rules set 5 out in chapter 1 of the Guide to the Rules for the conduct of Members. I therefore uphold this element of Mr Scully’s allegation.

You have already acknowledged and apologised for some late registrations and I have noted your comments about the reasons for delay. While I appreciate that it has sometimes been necessary to make enquiries before all the necessary details were to hand and that 10 other Members also register late on occasion, the fact remains that the House approved the 28-day time limit and expects Members to “fulfil conscientiously’ the House’s requirements in this respect.

I accept that entries acknowledged by the Electoral Commission as duplicates in their register do not provide evidence of omissions from the Register of Members’ Financial 15 Interests. And, in light of the advice from the Registrar of Members’ Financial Interests I also accept that donations not linked to you made by Mrs Douglas and Mr Thomas similarly do not provide evidence of omissions from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I do not, therefore uphold that element of the allegation.

In light of the steps you have taken to review your participation in parliamentary 20 proceedings, I do not propose to consider further the allegation concerning the declaration of your interests. I have seen no evidence to suggest that further inquiry into that point is merited and I do not uphold that element of Mr Scully’s allegation.

Next steps

Under Standing Order No 150 I may conclude an inquiry without making a referral to the 25 Committee on Standards in certain circumstances, using the “rectification” procedure.

If you accept my decision and agree that you breached the Code of Conduct, the Committee would expect you to acknowledge your breaches of the rules and to apologise for them. (An acknowledgement and apology in your response to this letter would be in keeping with their usual expectation.) I would issue a decision letter to the complainant; 30 and publish a report of my work on my webpages. I would report briefly to the Committee that I have concluded the inquiry in this way.

Please let me know whether you accept my analysis and the proposal to conclude this matter by way of a rectification. If you agree, I will write to Mr Scully to inform him of the outcome. 35

My letter to Mr Scully, should you agree with this proposal, would be both short and straightforward and I enclose a draft copy now (as the first item in the evidence pack) to give you the opportunity to comment on its factual accuracy and to see the evidence which would be published alongside it in due course. In the meantime, if you would like to see other examples, they can be found on my webpages at: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-40 lords-and-offices/standards-and-interests/pcfs/publications/inquiries/matters-rectifiied/.


I would be grateful for a response no later than 25 August 2016.

4 August 2016

12. Letter from Rt Hon Sadiq Khan to the Commissioner, 2 September 2016

Thank you for your letter dated 4 August 2016. 5

I accept that while a Member of Parliament, for the reasons I have previously set out, I registered some of my financial interests after the 28-day time limit set by the House and wish to again apologise for this.

I am pleased that you accept that entries acknowledged by the Electoral Commission as duplicates in their register do not provide evidence of omissions from the Register of 10 Members’ Financial Interests, and also that you accept the donations not linked to me made by Mrs Douglas and Mr Thomas similarly do not provide evidence of omissions from the Register of Members’ Financial Interest.

I accept your analysis of this matter and your proposal to conclude it by way of a rectification. 15

I would be grateful if your office could advise me, through my Chief of Staff when you will be publishing your correspondence on this matter on your parliamentary we-pages.

Please do let me know if you require any further information.

2 September 2016

13. Letter from the Commissioner to Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, 6 September 20 2016

Thank you for your letter of 2 September 2016. I have today written to Mr Scully as I had proposed and I enclose a final copy of the relevant papers for your information. These letters will be posted on my webpages very shortly and your name removed from the list of current inquiries. 25

I will report the outcome of this inquiry to the Committee on Standards and I am happy to confirm that I now consider this matter to be closed.

6 September 2016