No further action will be taken against a Harrogate peer who breached the House of Lords code of conduct, the standards commissioner has said.
Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate was found to have committed a “minor breach” of the code after he did not make clear the nature of business of one of the companies of which he is a director.
A report published on Thursday by the Lords commissioner for standards, Martin Jelley QPM, said Lord Kirkhope was one of 24 peers to commit a breach.
However, he said the matter was resolved by each peer providing a description of the registered companies.
Mr Jelley said:
“Apart from the Duke of Wellington, the other 24 members committed a minor and inadvertent breach of the code of conduct by failing to provide a description of companies they had registered.
“Each of them has resolved the breach to my satisfaction and I consider that no further sanction is necessary.”
The complaint against Lord Kirkhope followed allegations made by UnlockDemocracy, a London-based pressure group.
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Tom Brake, director of the group, wrote to Mr Jelley to allege that 39 peers had breached paragraph 53 of the House of Lords code of conduct, which says a peer should “give a broad indication of the company’s business, where this is not self-evident from its name”.
It said Lord Kirkhope did not make clear the nature of business of Reading-based Brass Trustees Limited, of which he has been a director since June last year.
The other peers investigated include Lord Sugar, the former Tottenham Hotspur chairman and founder of electronics company Amstrad.
Mr Jelley added in his report:
“It is the responsibility of members to ensure that entries within the register of interests are correct and up to date. It is in everyone’s interest that matters are reported accurately and fully.”
As Timothy Kirkhope, he was MP for Leeds North East and MEP for Yorkshire before being created a life peer in 2016. He has a keen interest in local radio.
The Stray Ferret has approached Lord Kirkhope for comment.
Harrogate Conservative peer under investigation over financial interestA Harrogate Conservative peer is under investigation by the House of Lords standards commissioner over a financial interest.
Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate is alleged to be in breach of the Lords code of conduct because his register of interests did not make clear the nature of business of one of the companies of which he is a director.
First reported by Open Democracy, the allegation was made by UnlockDemocracy, a pressure group based in London, in a letter to Martin Jelley, the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards.
It says Lord Kirkhope did not make clear the nature of business of Reading-based Brass Trustees Limited, of which he has been a director since June last year.
The letter, which was sent by Tom Brake, director of the pressure group, says that under paragraph 53 of the House of Lords code of conduct a peer should “give a broad indication of the company’s business, where this is not self-evident from its name”.
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Mr Brake goes on to list 39 other peers, including Lord Sugar and Lord Pickles, who he alleges appear to have done the same. However, he adds that the alleged breach may be unintentional.
He said in the letter:
“I believe that the following peers, unintentionally I imagine, are in breach of this paragraph of the code of conduct and that greater clarity about the business of the companies listed below would be welcomed by the public.
“I do not believe it could be claimed that the nature of their business is self-evident.”
The standards commissioner has since opened investigations into 24 peers over their register of interests, which includes Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate.
As Timothy Kirkhope, he was MP for Leeds North East and MEP for Yorkshire before being created a life peer in 2016. He has a keen interest in local radio.
Lord Sugar, the former Tottenham Hotspur chairman and founder of electronics company Amstrad, is also part of the probe over his interest as director of Harper Fox Partner Ltd.
The Stray Ferret approached Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate for comment on the investigation, but did not receive a response by time of publication.
Stray FM licence should have been re-advertised, says Harrogate peerStray FM should have had its licence re-advertised rather than be allowed to lose its “special identity” to “out-of-town owners”, a Harrogate Conservative peer has said.
Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate said Ofcom, which regulates commercial radio, needed to do more to protect “well-loved” radio stations that were being “absorbed into the mega-conglomerates that now seem to control the sector”.
Speaking in a Lords debate about radio licenses, he added:
“In the region where I live in Yorkshire, a large number of local stations have lost their special identity as their out-of-town owners dispose of local staff and content, and simply hijack the licensed frequency to pump out centrally edited music that is obtainable in various other ways, either from national broadcasters or through web streaming services.
“That simply should not have been allowed.”
Lord Kirkhope, who is a lawyer and former MP for Leeds North East, has a long-standing interest in radio.
He helped set up a hospital station in Newcastle in the 1960s and subsequently applied unsuccessfully for for the Tyne and Wear franchise that went to Metro radio in 1973.
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He told the Stray Ferret he had Stray FM, which owners Bauer Media rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio in September, and other local radio stations in mind when he made his comments in Parliament.
He added licences should not have granted “without adequate local content”, adding:
“In those cases I consider there has been a breach of the spirit of the regulations if not the legality.
“In some of the obvious local cases like Stray FM those licences should instead have been re-advertised.
“After all, I might have been interested myself in maintaining the local spirit and I think there are others who might have joined me.”
Bauer Media has always maintained the station retains local content and services, as well as a presence in Harrogate.