The criminal records of ministers can stay secret because disclosing their convictions would be a breach of their privacy, the Government’s watchdog has ruled.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) refused to compel the Cabinet Office to disclose how many ministers had criminal convictions before they took office, ruling their right to privacy was more important than the public being made aware.
It accepted the cabinet’s claim that revealing their convictions might create a ‘jigsaw’ effect which could identify individuals following repeated requests.
The watchdog supported the view that a minister could be exposed if the cabinet revealed one member had a criminal record, that minister then resigned, and the cabinet later revealed no members held criminal records.
Ministers must currently declare previous convictions, alongside relevant business activity and tax disputes, to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent advisor on ministerial standards.
He then determines what should be made publicly available on the ministerial register of interests.
The ruling comes after former Labour Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was forced to step down once it emerged she has an historic fraud conviction.
The Sheffield Heeley MP resigned from cabinet in November last year after admitting she appeared in court in 2014 – before she was an MP – having claimed she had her mobile phone stolen in a mugging.
The ruling comes after former Labour Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was forced to step down once it emerged she has an historic fraud conviction
She falsely reported to the police her phone had been taken but said she discovered ‘some time later’ it had not.
She pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation after a probe by her then employer, insurance giant Aviva, and magistrates gave her the ‘lowest possible outcome’.
It posed questions over whether other ministers had similar convictions and The Times appealed to the ICO to force the Cabinet Office release criminal records of ministers.
Cabinet officials refused to confirm or deny if it had the information and were backed by the ICO.
A judge found that this potential for disruption was ‘not a prejudice, but indeed a positive’, the newspaper reported.
‘If the public are able to see active change as a result of controversies, changing circumstances or advice from the independent adviser, it can do nothing but boost the public confidence in the integrity of the process,’ they said.
But the ICO upheld the cabinet’s decision.
Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson, branded the ruling astonishing.
Ministers hiding convictions ‘wouldn’t be privacy’ but ‘secrecy’, she said.
‘Shutting out the public and preventing transparency has no place in our democracy.
‘We are calling for a change to the ministerial code so that declaring a criminal record is made a condition of being a minister.’
The ICO has been contacted for comment.
