Dimension: 2.1.4 Parliamentary income and use of parliamentary resources
This dimension concerns the responsibility for individual MPs, political groups and certain staff members to make disclosures as to their income and their use of parliamentary resources or funds allocated under the parliamentary budget. There is a legitimate public interest in how MPs and political groups use parliamentary resources or public funds, as well as a need for accountability.
Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. should routinely publish information on MPs’ salaries, allowances and other benefits, as well as the expenses they claim. In accordance with the legislative framework of each country, MPs might be required to disclose their non-parliamentary income, their assets, and the assets of their spouses and dependent children.
Information on the recruitment and remuneration of personal staff working for MPs – such as secretaries, assistants and researchers – should also be available to the public. In addition, some countries have rules and/or restrictions on the employment of family members.
Meanwhile, political groups usually have a legal obligation to provide information about their funding, and to regularly report on their expenditure, both to parliament and to the public.
It is important that the role of parliamentary staff is limited to the provision of legitimate support to MPs, and that parliamentary staff are not used for party-political purposes. Some parliaments have introduced provisions in their code of ethics that prohibit MPs from placing parliamentary staff in a position that could jeopardize their political impartiality or call into question the proper use of public funds.
Aspiring goal
Assess your parliament against this dimension
Assessment criteria
No 1: MPs’ salaries, allowances, benefits and expenses
Parliament regularly publishes information about MPs’ salaries, allowances and other benefits, as well as the expenses they claim.
No 2: Funding and expenditure of political groups
Political groups are required by law to report regularly on their funding and expenditure, and these reports are published on the parliamentary website.
No 3: MPs’ personal staff
Parliament’s rules of procedure contain clear provisions on recruitment, funding, remuneration and expenditure for MPs’ personal staff who are not part of the parliamentary administration. Information about such recruitment, funding, remuneration and expenditure is publicly available.
No 4: Misuse of parliamentary resources
Parliament has rules and procedures in place to prevent the misuse of parliamentary resources, including parliamentary staff, for party-political or other purposes.
No 5: Compliance
A parliamentary body is responsible for monitoring the compliance of MPs and political groups with these requirements, and for holding them to account in the event of non-compliance.
How to complete this assessment
This dimension is assessed against several criteria, each of which should be evaluated separately. For each criterion, select one of the six descriptive grades (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent) that best reflects the situation in your parliament, and provide details of the evidence on which this assessment is based.
The evidence for assessment of this dimension could include the following:
- Provisions of parliament’s rules of procedure or other regulations relating to the publication of information about MPs’ salaries, allowances, other benefits and expenses
- Provisions of the legal framework requiring political groups to report on their funding and expenditure
- Reports by the parliamentary body tasked with monitoring the compliance of political groups with these requirements
- Provisions of parliament’s rules of procedure relating to the employment of political staff of MPs or political groups
- Information about political staff and their salaries, allowances and other benefits
- Data on mandatory disclosures submitted by MPs
Where relevant, provide additional comments or examples that support the assessment.
Sources and further reading
- European Commission for Democracy Democracy The belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is held either by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. Also, a basic right of citizenship to be exercised under conditions of freedom, equality, transparency and responsibility, with due respect for the plurality of views, and in the interest of the polity. through Law Law A body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by a controlling authority (usually passed by parliament), which has a binding legal force and must be obeyed and followed by citizens, subject to sanctions or legal consequences. Also, the whole body of binding customs, practices or rules of a community prescribed or formally recognized and enforced by a controlling authority. See also: Act of parliament, Bill, Law-making Law-making The legislative process or the act of legislating, i.e. the process by which laws are made. See also: Act of parliament, Law and Legislation Legislation A law or a set of laws that have been passed by parliament. The word is also used to describe the act of making a new law. See also: Act of parliament, Law and Law-making. . and Legislation Legislation A law or a set of laws that have been passed by parliament. The word is also used to describe the act of making a new law. See also: Act of parliament, Law and Law-making. . (Venice Commission), Guidelines and Report on the Financing of Political Parties, (2001).
- OpeningParliament.org, Declaration on Parliamentary Openness (2012).
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Public All the members of a community in general, regardless of their citizenship status. Service: OECD Guidelines and Country Experiences (2003).
Get help with this assessment
The assessment of indicators involves diagnosing and considering strengths and weaknesses, i.e. the things parliament is doing well, and the things it could do better or more effectively, taking into account established good practices that are described in the indicators.
Read the assessment guidance to find out what to consider when conducting an assessment against the Indicators. Find out how to prepare, how to set the objectives of the assessment, how to organize the process, and more. Contact the project partners for expert advice.
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