On 16 March 2026, Parliament’s Standards Committee turned down a proposal by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life to begin publishing decisions not to investigate complaints.

At present, reports drawn up by the Commissioner following the investigation of complaints are published. But if the Commissioner decides not to investigate a complaint, he cannot publish his decision to this effect. He can only send it to the complainant and the person who was the subject of the complaint. This is in keeping with the practice established by the Committee in 2019.

The Commissioner felt that it was necessary to reconsider this practice in the interest of transparency. To this end, he wrote to the Committee on 21 January 2026. This letter followed similar letters that he sent to the Committee in June 2023, December 2023 and September 2024, but the Committee did not reach a conclusion on the Commissioner’s proposal at that time.

During their meeting of 16 March, the members of the Committee noted that the complainant and the person who is the subject of the complaint can publish the decision themselves if they want to. However, they felt that the decision should not be published by the Commissioner. They agreed therefore that the current practice should not change.

The Committee’s ruling applies only to decisions by the Commissioner not to investigate complaints. Reports on investigations by the Commissioner will continue to be published, in keeping with existing practice.

During the same meeting, the Committee also considered a draft legal notice to amend the code of ethics for MPs and the code of ethics for ministers. The Committee agreed to continue discussing this draft.