Registering a different kind of shambles

Home back 13 December 1999

When the Assembly was set up, we were frequently told that here was a "new" kind of politics. There would be an end to everything that was bad about Westminster politics. This would be different. Unfortunately, the system of registering interests is deeply flawed. The reporting of interests is wildly inconsistent and the system itself is full of enough holes to drive an armoured plated coracle through. When the Register of Members' Interests was set up, it strictly listed a number of interests that AMs are required to declare. In his foreword to the first issue of the register, Dafydd Elis Thomas said: "Openness and accountability are two of the key features of the National Assembly..." and "that the National Assembly has made an important start in bringing the policies, practices and decisions of government closer to the people of Wales. I hope that through this register and the actions of Assembly Members, the National Assembly will be seen to be open, inclusive and fully accountable to those who have elected its members". The register itself was explicit about both the purpose and the sanctions for failure to comply: Section 72 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 and Standing Order 4 requires Members of the National Assembly for Wales to register any relevant interests within eight weeks of taking the oath or affirmation and also register within four weeks, any changes to those interests taking place. In particular, Section 72 (6) (a) of the Act provides that participation in proceedings of the Assembly without having registered any relevant interests as specified in the Annex to Standing Orders, shall be an offence. Among the list of relevant interests in the Annex to Standing Orders are: 4. Gifts, hospitality, material benefits or advantage above a value specified in any resolution of the Assembly received by the Member or, to the Member’s knowledge, the Member’s spouse, from any company, organisation or person and relating to or arising out of membership of the Assembly. It is an offence under the Government of Wales Act not to declare relevant interests. The rules also mean that failure to declare an interest as outlined above debars a Member from participating in the Assembly. This is pretty tough, radical stuff. Or at least it seems to be, until you take a closer look. Then the shambles begins to become apparent. The first point is that AMs are obliged to declare various interests - but only above a certain value threshold. This appears eminently sensible at first glance. But for hospitality, the threshold is set at 0.5% of the basic gross AM salary of £34,438. This produces a figure of £172.19. Therefore, if an AM receives corporate hospitality every day of the year, but it only amounts to £170 a throw, they are not obliged to declare it. This produces some crazy inconsistencies. Most ordinary people scanning the latest Register of Interests would have noticed that many AMs and some Cabinet Ministers attended Rugby World Cup matches as corporate guests of one or other company. The casual reader of the Register might assume that if an AM did not declare such attendance, it meant that they were not the recipient of corporate hospitality for any of the games. Well, you'd be wrong. It's just as likely that the individual AM decided that such corporate hospitality did not breach the threshold of £172.19 and therefore was not obliged to declare it. We know of several AMs and at least one Cabinet member who chose not to declare receipt of such corporate hospitality. One prominent AM told Wales Watch that if he'd received corporate hospitality over that value then he would have reported it, but that it was under the threshold. If we know of these cases, how many more exist? It makes a bit of a mockery of the Register if some AMs report receipt of a particular gift while others in receipt of exactly the same gift, do not. There will always be borderline cases - that's the nature of any threshold, but surely the threshold of £172.19 is far too high. The high figure encourages inconsistent reporting of gifts. By supporting a system which encourages inconsistencies and confusion, the whole basis of the Register begins to unravel as it becomes discredited. People will look at it and wonder how many AMs really received X or attended Y, but decided that there was no need to report it as it was below the value of the magic figure of £172.19. Time for a review.