What are the rules on MP ‘freebies’?

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and a number of other prominent Labour ministers have faced scrutiny in recent weeks for their acceptance of so-called “freebies” from donors and various organisations.

Mr Starmer in particular has been criticised for accepting several thousands of pounds worth of clothes for both himself and his wife, as well as tickets to concerts and football matches.

Mr Starmer has said he has not broken any rules by accepting these gifts. (Labour peer and frequent donor Lord Waheed Alli is currently under investigation by the Lords Commissioners for Standards for “alleged non-registration of interests” in his capacity as a member of the House of Lords, but this reportedly does not concern his donations to Mr Starmer, and the fact that an investigation is underway does not mean the rules have been broken.)

Much of the scrutiny of the Prime Minister stems from declarations of gifts, hospitality and other donations published on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. This article explains the rules surrounding what interests MPs must register, how guidance differs for government ministers and what changes have been proposed for how interests are registered.

For clarity, this article will refer to various types of “benefits” received by MPs, including gifts, hospitality and other donations. This article does not address MPs’ expenses or remuneration, which are regulated by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) and are reported separately to the MPs’ register of interests.

What interests must MPs register?

The Code of Conduct for MPs states: “New Members must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election, and Members must register any change in those registrable interests within 28 days.”

The categories of interests which must be registered are:

• Employment and earnings (not including parliamentary or ministerial salary)
• Donations and other support
• Gifts, benefits and hospitality from sources inside the UK
• Visits outside the UK
• Gifts and benefits from sources outside the UK
• Land and property in the UK and elsewhere (if the total value of property held is over £100,000, or the total value of income derived from property is over £10,000 in a calendar year)
• Shareholdings (greater in value than 15% of issued share capital, or £70,000)
• Miscellaneous 
• Family members employed and remunerated through parliamentary expenses (remuneration of over £700 in a calendar year)
• Family members engaged in lobbying.

Unless specified as otherwise in the above list, the threshold for registration is above £300 in total of benefits of any size from a single source in a calendar year. (For example, if someone received one gift worth £200 from a single source in a calendar year, they wouldn’t have to register it, but if they received two gifts worth £200 from that source in a calendar year, they would have to register both). The accurate value of benefits received must be included in the entry.

MPs don’t have to register “benefits available to all Members”, or benefits provided by their own party (with some exceptions).

The MPs’ register of interests is updated every two weeks while Parliament is sitting and approximately every month when it is not, and entries remain in the register for 12 months.

MPs who fail to properly disclose their interests may be investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, with breaches either addressed by a rectification process (as has previously happened with Mr Starmer) or through referral to the Committee for Standards (as previously happened on multiple occasions with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for example).

What about ministers?

The above rules also apply to ministers registering benefits received in their capacity as a Member of the Commons (ministers who sit in the House of Lords are similarly required to comply with the registration requirements that apply to members of the Lords in the Lords Code of Conduct). However, benefits received in their capacity as a minister do not have to be registered in the MPs’ register of interests. Instead, rules around registering things like gifts and hospitality are set out in the Ministerial Code.

The Code currently states that “no Minister should accept gifts, hospitality or services from anyone which would, or might appear to, place him or her under an obligation.” The same applies to gifts offered to a member of their family.

However that doesn’t mean ministers are unable to receive gifts or hospitality at all. The Code says: “Gifts given to Ministers in their Ministerial capacity become the property of the Government and do not need to be declared in the Register of Members’ or Peers’ Interests. Gifts of small value, currently this is set at £140, may be retained by the recipient. Gifts of a higher value should be handed over to the department for disposal unless the recipient wishes to purchase the gift abated by £140.”

Government departments publish details of gifts received by ministers above the value of £140 on a quarterly basis, including the nature of the gift, its value, and whether or not it was bought back by the minister.

While the value of hospitality received is set out in the MPs’ register of interests, the value of hospitality received by ministers in a ministerial capacity is not published.

What changes are Labour proposing?

Ministerial Codes published after Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 and Gordon Brown in 2007 stated that hospitality accepted by ministers should be registered in the MPs’ register of interests.

However, the process for declaring hospitality received by ministers was updated after David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010, with the Ministerial Code specifying that “Departments will publish, at least quarterly, details of hospitality received by Ministers in a Ministerial capacity”, while “Hospitality accepted as an MP or Peer should be declared in the Register of Members’ or Lords’ Interests respectively.”

Neither the MPs’ Code of Conduct nor the Ministerial Code contains explicit guidance on how to determine whether benefits received by a minister were received in a ministerial capacity, or in their capacity as a constituency MP. The Ministerial Code currently states that the acceptance of gifts and hospitality is “primarily a matter which must be left to the good sense of Ministers”.

Mr Starmer has registered various gifts and hospitality received since becoming Prime Minister in the MPs’ register of interests (suggesting he received them in his capacity as a constituency MP), but has said he would repay the cost of a number of them. 

Other ministers have faced criticism previously for hospitality recorded as having been received in a ministerial capacity (meaning the value of it isn’t published).

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden MP described this difference as a “loophole” and reportedly said that the rules would be updated to require hospitality received in a ministerial capacity to be included in the MPs register of interests (thereby requiring its value to be published).

A Downing Street spokesperson subsequently confirmed that an updated Ministerial Code published by the Prime Minister would include “a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality”.