Calderdale councillor and Blackpool South MP breached Parliamentary rules

The Commissioner, Kathryn Stone, opened an investigation after receiving a complaint that, as an MP, Coun Benton had breached paragraph 14 of the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament.

The complainant alleged Mr Benton had failed to register six entries in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests within the House’s 28-day deadline, for payments received for his work as a Member’s researcher – for Calder Valley Tory MP Craig Whittaker – before he became an MP himself, and for work as a councillor for Brighouse ward on Calderdale Council, says the Commissioner’s report.

The Commissioner said in failing to register his various interests within the specified time frame, she found he had breached the rules.

The Commissioner upheld the complaint and Coun Benton has acknowledged and apologised for his breach of the rules, has put in place measures to avoid a recurrence including attending a refresher meeting with Parliament’s Registrar.

The Commissioner said she considered the breach to be at the less serious end of the spectrum and decided the inquiry could be concluded through this rectification procedure.

Another concern of the complainant’s related to Coun Benton’s reasons for not standing down as a councillor, but the Commissioner said this was out of their remit and so would not form part of their inquiry.

And in terms of an aspect of the complaint relating to declaration of financial details of a visit to Israel while working as a researcher, the Commissioner said she was satisfied Mr Benton did not breach the rules because the trip was did not arise from his role as Member’s staff and and was not sufficiently related to that work to require registration.

After she notified Mr Benton of the verdict, he replied to the Commissioner: “I accept the decision which has been reached by Kathryn and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my mistake and apologise once again for inadvertently breaching the rules.

“I will ensure that I conscientiously report my outside interests in accordance with the rules in future and I have put in place measures to ensure that I do,” he said.

Coun Benton is also facing a separate Calderdale Council standards hearing on separate matters – no date has yet been set for this but it had been indicated it may take place early this year.

Coun Benton has not yet responded to a request for comment on these issues