HC Deb 31 January 2001 vol 362 cc222-3W
Mr. Plaskitt

To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to announce the conclusion of the Quinquennial Review of the Committee on Standards in Public Life; and if he will make a statement. [148394]

The Prime Minister

I am pleased to announce that the Report of the Quinquennial Review of the Committee on Standards in Public Life is published today. Copies are being placed in the Libraries.

The Report recommends that the Committee should continue in its present form for the time being. It notes that there may not always be a need for the Committee to be continuously involved in a full-time inquiry but that in the future less active periods of monitoring may be called for. It recommends that the Committee should react flexibly to requirements and developments in the field of standards in public life. I am grateful to Lord Neill and his Committee for the work they have done in this area. I agree with the Report, which concludes that the Committee has itself become a part of the fabric of public life.