Investigation into claims made by Liam Byrne MP concluded

Date published: 13 October 2020

The Compliance Officer for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has today published a Closure Report relating to her investigation into claims made under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’) by Mr Liam Byrne MP.

The Closure Report can be found in the Transparency section of this site. On 6th February 2020, following receipt of complaints from two members of the public in September 2019, the Compliance Officer opened an investigation into claims submitted by Mr Liam Byrne MP. The scope of the investigation was to consider:

  • Office Costs in respect of website hosting costs made in the financial year 2019/2020.

Following the investigation, the Compliance Officer found that Mr Byrne was required to reimburse IPSA the total sum of £2.00 in respect of domain name costs for his website www.liambyrne.co.uk. 

As a result of the investigation, the Compliance Officer issued a Statement of Provisional Findings to Mr Byrne and IPSA. 

Both IPSA and Mr Byrne were invited to make representations on the Statement of Provisional Findings in accordance with paragraphs 23 and 24 of the Procedure. Neither party elected to make representations, and both accepted the findings of the Compliance Officer. 

Under section 9(5)-(8) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (‘the Act’), the Compliance Officer must prepare a Statement of Findings, unless the member accepts a provisional finding that the member was paid an amount under the MPs' allowances scheme that should not have been allowed and the member agrees to repay to the IPSA, in such manner and within such period as the Compliance Officer considers reasonable, such amount as the Compliance Officer considers reasonable (and makes the repayment accordingly). 

On 22 July 2020, Mr Byrne repaid the sum of £2.00. 

As the above criteria have been met, the Compliance Officer has not issued a Statement of Findings. 

No further action is required by Mr Byrne or IPSA and the investigation is now closed. 

Notes to Editors

  1. The Compliance Officer for IPSA is an independent office holder established as a separate public authority from IPSA under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as amended by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. He is responsible for investigating complaints regarding MPs' business costs and expenses paid to MPs by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority ('IPSA').

  2. The Procedures for Investigations of the Compliance Officer for IPSA (Third Edition) can be found on the Compliance Officer’s website.

  3. As the MP accepted the Statement of Provisional Findings and repaid the amount in full, and no further representations were received by either party, the Compliance Officer is not required to publish a Statement of Findings.

  4. The MPs' Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses can be found on IPSA's website.

  5. IPSA’s Press Office – 020 7811 6462​.