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APPC Chair statement on Parliamentary passes
The Chair of the APPC, Gill Morris, has made a statement in response to media inquiries about the holding of Parliamentary passes by former MPs and MPs' spouses who are political consultants.
"The APPC Code does not allow its members to have passes conferring entitlement to access to parliamentary or public offices. There are two exceptions: where the institution is a client and requires the consultant to hold a pass; and where the consultant holds a pass as a spouse of a member or as a former member of the relevant institution. In the latter case, Parliamentary rules permit spouses and former Parliamentarians to possess a pass."
"Our rules are quite clear that if you are a political consultant and either a former Parliamentarian or Spouse of a sitting member you are not permitted to use your pass for anything other than personal commitments. Our rules also require consultants to keep strictly separate from their duties and activities as political consultants any personal activity or involvement on behalf of a political party."
"So our rules ensure you can pursue a career as a political consultant and maintain your personal commitments if you are either married to a Parliamentarian and/or are a former Member of Parliament. Our focus is to ensure that anyone with a pass must have it for the purpose stated and for a legitimate reason. It is completely inappropriate to abuse the rules of the House. Transparency and respect for Parliamentary rules guide our Code. The APPC regularly reviews its Code in the face of comments and suggestions made by members and others. We would be perfectly happy to review it again in the light of any new comments or suggestions made.”