The Independent Expert Panel determines cases against MPs and appeals under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme; and appeals under the MPs’ Code of Conduct.
Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme: The Independent Expert Panel (276KB PDF)
On 23 June 2020, the House of Commons agreed to the establishment of an Independent Expert Panel (IEP) to consider cases against MPs raised under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS). It agreed to the functions and responsibilities of the IEP, the method of appointing the panel and made consequent changes to standing orders. The House also agreed an amendment to ensure that any decisions relating to recommendations made by the IEP that needed to be ratified by the House should be decided without debate in the Chamber.
On 18 October 2022, following a review of the House’s standards system by the Committee on Standards, the House agreed that the IEP should also be the body that hears appeals against decisions by the Committee on Standards in relation to individual cases under the Code of Conduct.
The IEP’s functions are set out in Standing Order No 150A:
(a) to determine the appropriate sanction in Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) cases referred to it by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards;
(b) to hear appeals against the decisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in respect of ICGS cases involving Members of this House;
(c) to hear appeals against a sanction imposed under paragraph (a);
(d) to report from time to time, through the Clerk of the House, on the operation of the ICGS as it relates to Members of this House;
(e) to hear appeals against the decisions of the Committee on Standards under Standing Order No. 149(1)(b) in relation to individual cases under the Code of Conduct;
(f) to consider any case of non-compliance by a Member of this House with a sanction imposed under sub-paragraph (a) or any other recommendation made in a report by a sub-panel in relation to an ICGS case; and to determine the appropriate sanction.
On 25 November 2020, the House of Commons approved the appointment of the first eight members of the Panel, as recommended by the House of Commons Commission (HoCC). In line with the commission’s recommendations four members were appointed for six years and four members for four years.
The HoCC’s report Members of the Independent Expert Panel: Nomination of Candidates (PDF) was published on 19 November 2020. It outlined the process followed in recruiting and selecting those nominated. It recommended that four candidates should be appointed for the maximum term of six years and that four candidates, including the proposed chair of the IEP, should be appointed for four years. It provided brief details of the nominated candidates.
On 9 October 2024, the HoCC published a report recommending four new panel members (PDF) to replace those whose term ended in 2024. The HoCC proposed the four new members should be appointed for six-year terms.
On 14 October 2026, the HoCC published a report recommending four new panel members (PDF) to replace the remaining original appointees, whose term ends in November 2026. The commission recommended the following people be appointed as members of the IEP, for six-year terms:
In The Bullying and Harassment of House of Commons Staff – Independent Inquiry Report, Dame Laura Cox had recommended that the “process for determining complaints of bullying, harassment or sexual harassment brought by House staff against Members of Parliament will be an entirely independent process, in which Members of Parliament will play no part”. The establishment of the IEP met this recommendation.
A recall petition is a process by which an MP can lose their seat in the House of Commons, if specific conditions as set out in the Recall of MPs Act 2015 are met. One of those conditions is that an MP is suspended from the House for at least 10 sitting days (or 14 days if sitting days are not specified). Since October 2021 relevant suspensions recommended by the IEP can trigger a recall. If the IEP recommends that an MP is suspended for a period that meets the recall conditions, then the Committee on Standards is required by standing orders to recommend a concurrent suspension. If the suspension is approved by the House of Commons a recall petition is triggered.
The additional recommendation from the Committee on Standards is required because the IEP is not a committee of the House. For a recall to be initiated under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, the suspension from the House must be imposed by the House following a recommendation of the Committee on Standards, or another committee of the House of Commons concerned with an MP’s standards of conduct as determined by the Speaker.
At Business Questions on 27 May 2021, the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, explained why a suspension recommended by the IEP would not trigger a recall petition. Confidential information about the ICGS case could be revealed during the petition process or subsequent by-election and it had been important to ensure the independence of ICGS processes.
However, following a recommendation from the IEP that an MP be suspended for six weeks, calls grew for suspensions under the ICGS to trigger recall elections in the same way as non-ICGS cases would, following recommendations from the Committee on Standards.
The House of Commons Commission considered the matter at its meeting on 12 July 2021. It agreed that the House should be asked to apply the Recall of MPs Act 2015 to suspensions recommended by the Independent Expert Panel.
Following the publication of the HoCC’s minutes, on 19 July 2021, the Leader of the House tabled a motion to require the Committee on Standards to recommend a concurrent suspension of the same length when the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act 2015 would have been engaged. Unlike a similar motion tabled previously by the Labour Party (see Order Paper, 7 July 2021), the Leader of the House’s motion did not have retrospective effect. The Labour Party tabled an amendment to give retrospective effect to the Leader of the House’s proposal.
Sir Stephen Irwin, Chair of the IEP, expressed specific concerns about the proposals to make recall provisions to IEP recommendations retrospective (PDF), in a letter to the HoCC.
On 19 October 2021, the House agreed to implement the government’s proposals after rejecting an amendment that would have made the arrangements retrospective.
A fuller background to the ICGS can be found in the Library Briefing Paper, Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, CBP 8369.
Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme: The Independent Expert Panel (276KB PDF)
This list notes when an MP has changed allegiance from one political party to another or decided to sit as an independent Member. Instances of MPs losing or resigning a party whip are also noted.
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