Conduct of Mr Mark Hunter : sixteenth report of session 2007-08, report and appendices, together with formal minutes

This report responds to a complaint arising from a survey relating to local National Health Service (NHS) services in Mr. Hunter's constituency of Cheadle and carried out by Mr. Hunter and funded from his Communications Allowance (CA).

There were three elements to the complaint: that the survey contained material that should not have been included in a CA funded survey; that it should not have been circulated outside the constituency; and, that publicity for the survey in a newsletter funded and circulated by his local party in one part of his constituency amounted to exploitation of the survey for party political purposes.

The Committee agree with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards that the survey included an incorrect imprint which suggested that it was party rather parliamentary in origin and that the CA should not have been used to distribute the survey outside Mr. Hunter's constituency. They also agreed that, by themselves, the breaches were not so serious as to cause us to conclude that his survey should not have been funded from the CA.