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Contents
Summary 2

Resolution letter: Ms Rachel Maclean MP 3

Letter from the Commissioner to the Complainant, 1 June 2023 3

5 Written evidence 4
1. Letter from the Complainant to the Commissioner, 4 May 2023 4
2. Letter from the Commissioner to the Complainant, 16 May 2023 4
5. Letter from the Commissioner to Rachel Maclean MP, 16 May 2023 5
6. Email from Rachel Maclean MP to the Commissioner, 17 May 2023 8
10 7. Letter from the Commissioner to Rachel Maclean MP, 19 May 2023 9
8. Email from Rachel Maclean MP to the Commissioner, 22 May 2023 11
9. Letter from the Commissioner to Rachel Maclean MP, 24 May 2023 12

Appendix 1: Enclosures from the Complainant 13

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Summary
I opened an inquiry on 16 May 2023, after receiving a complaint that Rachel Maclean
MP had acted in breach of rule 8 of the House of Commons' Code of Conduct for
Members ("the Code"). The complainant alleged that Ms Maclean had used her
5 parliamentary email address for party political campaigning.

I sought comments from Ms Maclean who acknowledged that this use of her
parliamentary email address had breached the rules and apologised.

I reviewed the email forwarded from Ms Maclean's parliamentary email and took
the view that it was party political campaigning in nature. I therefore concluded that
10 Ms Maclean had acted in breach of rule 8 of the Code when she used her
parliamentary email address to send 2,429 emails to constituents on the day of the
local elections.

I was satisfied that this breach of rule 8 was minor. I therefore decided to conclude
my inquiry by way of the rectification procedure available to me under Standing
15 Order No. 150. Ms Maclean has accepted that her actions were in breach of the Code,
apologised for this breach and provided details on how she will prevent any
recurrence.
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Resolution letter: Ms Rachel Maclean MP

Letter from the Commissioner to the Complainant, 1 June 2023
I wrote to you on 16 May 2023 to tell you that I had begun an inquiry into your
allegation that Rachel Maclean MP had breached rule 8 of the Code of Conduct for
5 Members.

Ms Maclean MP has acknowledged and apologised for their breach of the rules and
will be taking steps to avoid recurrence. The full rationale for my opinion can be
found in my letter to Ms Maclean, dated 19 May 2023 (item 7 in the written evidence
pack), which you can access once the evidence pack has been published.

10 I consider this breach to be at the less serious end of the spectrum and have decided
that this inquiry should be concluded through the rectification procedure, available
to me through House of Commons’ Standing Order No. 150.

I will publish my opinion and the written evidence pack shortly on my webpages
Rectifications: 2023 - UK Parliament and I will report the outcome to the Committee
15 on Standards in due course.

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. I confirm that the matter is now
closed.

1 June 2023
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Written evidence
1. Letter from the Complainant to the Commissioner, 4 May 2023
I wish to complain about my MP Rachel Maclean of Redditch for using her
Government email address for political campaigning in the local elections today
5 [May 4th 2023].

I believe this to be in breach of the rules of conduct by using official facilities for
political campaigning.

Please see attachment below which clearly shows Rachel Macleans Parliament email
address and entitled "Vote Conservative Today".

10 Please will you confirm receipt and investigate this urgently and deal with it in the
appropriate manner and reply to me.

4 May 2023

2. Letter from the Commissioner to the Complainant, 16 May 2023

Thank you for your submission of 4 May 2023, setting out your allegation of a breach
15 of House of Commons rules by Ms Rachel Maclean MP. I have decided to begin a
formal inquiry into whether Ms Maclean has breached rule 8 of the 2023 edition of
the House of Commons’ Code of Conduct for Members.

Please see attached the Procedural Protocol in relation to the Code of Conduct,
which was approved by the House on 18 October 2022. This sets out detailed
20 information about the House’s standards procedures, including the investigation
process I follow.

I am also writing to Ms Maclean to share your complaint and let her know I have
opened this inquiry.

My inquiries are conducted in private. However, following the decision taken by the
25 House on 21 April 2021, I will shortly publish on my webpages the fact that I am
conducting an inquiry into this allegation. My office will not comment on any aspect
of the inquiry to third parties. They will answer factual questions about the
processes I follow and the standards system more generally. I must ask that you
respect that confidentiality and the decision of the House.

30 All your correspondence with my office, including this letter, is now part of the
evidence for this inquiry and is protected by parliamentary privilege. You must not
discuss this matter, or share the contents of our correspondence, with any third
party. 
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I will contact you again when the inquiry is finished. Please be aware I do not give
progress reports during the course of an inquiry. When the matter has been
concluded, my opinion on whether there has been a breach of the Code, the reasons
5 for it and all the relevant evidence will be published on my webpages and put into
the public domain.

16 May 2023

5. Letter from the Commissioner to Rachel Maclean MP, 16 May 2023

Following receipt of an allegation I have received from [the complainant] about your
10 compliance with rule 8 of the 2023 edition of the House of Commons Code of
Conduct for Members (“the Code”), I have decided to open a formal inquiry. I enclose
a copy of [the complainant's] submission and the relevant enclosures sent with it at
appendix 1.1

The scope of my inquiry

15 My inquiry will focus on whether you have acted in breach of rule 8 of the Code, copy
attached, by using your parliamentary email address to disseminate material, which
was not in support of your parliamentary duties and was party-political
campaigning in nature. If the scope of my inquiry changes, I will update you in
writing.

20 The relevant rules of the House

The overarching rules are found in the Code. Rule 8 of the 2023 edition of the Code
states:

Excepting modest and reasonable personal use, Members must ensure

that the use of facilities and services provided to them by Parliament,
25 including an office, is in support of their parliamentary activities, and
is in accordance with all relevant rules.

The 2021 Members’ Handbook states:

It is not acceptable to use parliamentary digital services for activities

30 that could be considered party political campaigning or fundraising, or
private business activity, except in those circumstances and for those
users where this has been expressly permitted (e.g. as outlined in House
of Commons dissolution guidance).2

1
See Appendix 1 for enclosures
2
This restriction remains in place in the 22 March 2023 version of the “Parliamentary Digital Services –
User Responsibilities” document available on the intranet
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Next steps

I would welcome your comments on the allegation that your alleged actions have
amounted to a breach of rule 8 of the Code and are contrary to acceptable use of
parliamentary digital services. It would be helpful to receive any evidence to
5 support your responses when you reply to this letter. Any other points you wish to
make to help me with this inquiry would also be welcome. I would also be grateful
for your answers to the following specific questions:

1. Are you aware of the rules regarding the use of parliamentary digital services
and the limitation around their use?

10 2. Why did you use your parliamentary email to send this email?

3. Please can you confirm how many of the same or similar emails were sent out
on 4 May 2023 or at any other time?

Important information

My inquiries are conducted in private. However, following the decision taken by the
15 House on 21 April 2021, I will shortly publish on my webpages the fact that I am
conducting an inquiry about your alleged breach of the Code of Conduct. If
contacted, my office will not comment on any aspect of this specific inquiry to third
parties. They will answer direct factual questions about the processes I follow, and
the standards system more generally, but will not provide any comment or details
20 about the particulars of this inquiry.

This letter and any subsequent correspondence between us in connection with this
inquiry is protected by parliamentary privilege. It should be kept confidential until
the outcome of my inquiry is published. The same requirement extends to [the
complainant].

25 The Members’ Services Team (MST) can support and signpost you and/or your staff
to appropriate support services. You can contact them confidentially on 020 7219
4141 or at mst@parliament.uk for a range of issues, including support with handling
the impact of media attention.

Procedure

30 Please see attached the Procedural Protocol in relation to the Code of Conduct,
which was approved by the House on 18 October 2022. This sets out detailed
information about the House’s standards procedures, including the investigation
process that I follow.

While I do not, at this stage, know whether it will be necessary to interview you
35 about this matter, it would be open to you to be accompanied at any such interview. 
I am, of course, very happy to meet with you at any stage if you would find that
helpful.
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I should say now, as a matter of courtesy, that I may seek the advice of the House
authorities and others as part of this inquiry.  If I do so, I will share that
correspondence with you.

Information provided to me during the course of my inquiry will be retained, and

5 disposed of, in accordance with the House of Commons’ Authorised Records
Disposal Policy.

Potential outcomes

Inquiries are generally concluded in one of three ways.

10 1. If the evidence does not substantiate the allegation, I will report that I consider
there has been no breach of the Code. If the allegation is particularly serious
or the investigation raises matters of wider interest or relevance, I may decide
nevertheless to submit a memorandum to the Committee on Standards, which
the Committee will consider and then submit its own report to the House.

15 2. If the evidence demonstrates a breach of the rules, I may, in circumstances

defined by Standing Order No. 150, report that I consider there has been a
breach of the Code, and conclude the inquiry using the rectification procedure,
without making a referral to the Committee on Standards.

For inquiries that either result in a not upheld outcome or a rectification of the
20 breach of the Rules, the investigation material, including our correspondence,
will be published on the Parliament website, and the Committee will be
notified.

3. If I consider there has been a breach of the Code, and

• it is either unsuitable for the rectification procedure; or

25 • you do not accept my opinion that there has been a breach of the Code;
or

• you do not take (or do not agree to take) any remedial action required; or

• the investigation raises issues of wider importance

I must make a referral to the Committee on Standards. The Committee will

30 then decide whether there has been a breach of the Code. My memorandum
to the Committee will be published as an appendix to the Committee’s own
Report.

Regardless of the outcome of my inquiry, I must emphasise that all the relevant
evidence, including our correspondence, will be published when this inquiry is
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concluded. I routinely redact the personal data of third parties unless it is relevant
to my decision. Please tell me if you provide sensitive material that you think I
should redact. I will consider carefully any such request.

Action 

5 I would be grateful to have your response to this letter as soon as possible and no
later than 4pm 23 May 2023 please.

If you would prefer me to communicate with you by a different email address, please
give the details when you reply to this letter. It would also be helpful if you were
willing to provide a telephone number through which I might contact you.

10 Thank you for your cooperation with this matter.

16 May 2023

6. Email from Rachel Maclean MP to the Commissioner, 17 May 2023

I am writing in response to your letter dated 16.05.2023 regarding your inquiry into
whether I have acted in breach of rule 8 of the Code.

15 On my behalf, a member of my team sent an email to those on my mailing list on

04.05.2023 which contained content that was political in nature and therefore
should not have been sent using my parliamentary email address. I therefore accept
that this took place in breach of the rules.

I provide below the answers to your questions.

20
Question 1

I confirm that I am aware of the rules regarding the use of parliamentary digital
services and the limitation around their use. While I knew the email had been sent,
25 I would not have authorised it had I been aware that it had been sent from my
parliamentary email and not from a political email system.

Question 2

I accept that this email should not have been sent from my parliamentary email and
30 it was due to an administrative error by a member of my team. However of course I
accept full responsibility for what is sent out in my name, and this should not have
happened. I apologise unreservedly, I would not have intentionally misused
parliamentary digital services or any other resources provided for my
parliamentary duties.

35 To add some background, I can explain that the error arose because previously, we
have used a different tool to send emails to my mailing list – Mailchimp – which sent
the messages from a different address (news@rachelmaclean.uk). Since September
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2022, however, we have started using Brevo instead. It was incorrectly assumed that
Brevo was also sending from a different address, when in fact these emails were
coming from my Parliamentary email address.

Brevo is paid for by me, and there is no expense incurred by the taxpayer. I have
5 attached documents to this letter to support this.3

This email was not intended to be sent from my Parliamentary email address, and
instead should have been sent from the political email system that I pay for.

Question 3

10 The email was sent to everyone on my mailing list (containing 2,429 contacts), of
which it successfully reached 2,408 recipients (correct as of 16.05.2023). No other
emails with political content have been sent out either on 4th May, or at any other
time from my parliamentary address.

I have taken immediate steps to update my administrative processes, to brief

15 everyone involved, and to ensure we do not make the same mistake again. I will
accept the verdict of the investigation and take any remedial action required.

Once again I apologise for this mistake which I sincerely regret.

17 May 2023

7. Letter from the Commissioner to Rachel Maclean MP, 19 May 2023

20 Thank you for your email of 17 May 2023, providing additional information and
acknowledging and apologising for the use of your parliamentary account when
sending emails to constituents. I now have sufficient information to consider
whether there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct in respect of the allegation
that you used your parliamentary email address to disseminate material not in
25 support of your parliamentary duties and party-political in nature, that I have been
investigating.

My decision

I have considered our correspondence and the published rules and guidance on the
acceptable use of IT.

30 I consider that in forwarding an email to your constituents on your mailing list using
your parliamentary email address on 4 May 2023, you acted in breach of rule 8 of
the Code of Conduct. However, for the reasons outlined below, I do
not intend to refer this matter to the Committee on Standards for

3
These have not been included as are not relevant to the investigation
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consideration. Instead, I have decided to conclude this matter using the rectification
process provided by Standing Order No. 150.

Rationale

On 4 May 2023 you sent an email to 2,429 constituents on your mailing list which
5 contained information which was political in nature.

Rule 8 of the Code of Conduct states:

Excepting modest and reasonable personal use, Members must ensure

that the use of facilities and services provided to them by Parliament,
including an office, is in support of their parliamentary activities, and
10 is in accordance with all relevant rules.

The 2021 Members’ Handbook states:

It is not acceptable to use parliamentary digital services for activities

that could be considered party political campaigning or fundraising, or
private business activity, except in those circumstances and for those
15 users where this has been expressly permitted (e.g. as outlined in House
of Commons dissolution guidance).

The email you sent attempted to persuade constituents to vote Conservative during
the local elections, taking place on the same day. You explained that the error arose
due to using a different tool to send emails to your mailing list. You have confirmed
20 that no other emails with political content were sent on 4 May 2023 or at any other
time from your parliamentary email.

It is my view that this amounted to party political campaigning, contrary to rule 8

and the Guidance from the Members’ Handbook. You have accepted that your
parliamentary account should not have been used to send these emails and have
25 informed me that you have taken steps to ensure that this mistake is not repeated.

Next Steps

I consider this breach to be at the less serious end of the spectrum, given that it
relates to a single use of your parliamentary email account.

As I explained above, Standing Order No. 150 makes provision for me to conclude
30 an inquiry using the rectification process, rather than by making a referral to the
Committee on Standards. To resolve this breach of the rules through rectification,
the Committee would generally expect the Member to provide the following: 

a) confirmation you have accepted my opinion;

b) a clear acknowledgement that they have breached the rules;
35 c) an apology for the breach; and
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d) information about the steps they have taken to rectify the breach and to ensure
there is no recurrence of the breach.

The above can be provided by way of your formal response to this letter. You have
5 already acknowledged and apologised for your breach of the rules. In order to
progress this through rectification, I will require the following from you:

a) confirmation you have accepted my opinion; and

b) information about the steps you have taken to ensure there is no recurrence of
the breach.
10
If you are content for me to conclude the inquiry in this way, please write to me with
the above information by 4pm on 26 May 2023.

If you agree to my proposal, I will share my written evidence pack with you, so that
you can check its factual accuracy before publication. I will also report the outcome
15 to the Committee on Standards in due course as a matter of routine.

If you do not accept my opinion and decision, you should tell me the reasons for that
by reply. After which, I will prepare a Memorandum to the Committee on Standards,
so that they may consider the matter. I would give you the opportunity to see and
comment on a draft of the Memorandum, but the content of it would, in the final
20 analysis, be for me alone.

In the meantime, our correspondence remains protected by parliamentary privilege

and I ask you to continue to maintain the strict confidentiality of the inquiry.

19 May 2023

8. Email from Rachel Maclean MP to the Commissioner, 22 May 2023

25 Further to my previous letter dated 17 May 2023, and your subsequent reply on 19
May 2023, I would like to use this letter to confirm that I have accepted your opinion.

By sending an email to my constituents on my mailing list using my parliamentary

email address on 4 May 2023, I acted in breach of rule 8 of the Code of Conduct.

I have taken several steps to prevent the recurrence of the breach, including:

30 • Ensuring all of my team members undertake additional training so they

are more familiar with how the mailing list system works

• Updating the email address my newsletter is sent from, so it no longer

comes from my Parliamentary email
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• I have put in place additional audit procedures within my office team to

ensure that mistakes of this nature do not occur again

I am confident that the steps outlined above will prevent any recurrence of this
breach and apologise once again for this mistake.

5 22 May 2023

9. Letter from the Commissioner to Rachel Maclean MP, 24 May 2023

I enclose a copy of the written evidence pack, which includes the correspondence
exchanged during the investigation. In this pack you will find a draft copy of the
letter I plan to send to the complainant; it is the first item in the pack, after the
10 summary. While the content of the letter is a matter for me alone, I would welcome
any comments on the factual accuracy of this and the written evidence pack. The
complainant's name will be redacted from the published pack; please let me know if
there are any further redactions you think should be made, and I will consider your
request.

15 I would be pleased to receive any comments you wish to make on these items as
soon as possible, and no later than 4pm on 31 May 2023.

Once I have any comments you wish to make, I will finalise the pack, which will then
be published on my webpages. I will notify you of the publication of the pack.  I will
also notify the Committee on Standards of the outcome of my inquiry in due course. 

20 In the meantime, our correspondence continues to be protected by parliamentary

privilege. Until I send you and the complainant letters concluding the inquiry, this
matter should remain confidential.

24 May 2023

25
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Appendix 1: Enclosures from the Complainant

10
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10
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Dear [redacted]

This is a different kind of email to the one I send you every fortnight, but today is
polling day and there's a lot at stake!

There are important elections taking place in Redditch and Wychavon.

As a Conservative MP I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that I'm encouraging
you to vote Conservative today.

And I'm not just encouraging you to vote Conservative because I am Conservative,
it's because I passionately believe Conservatives in Redditch and Wychavon are the
only teams in this election with positive and ambitious plans.

Redditch
Your vote could decide whether we continue moving Redditch forward with our
positive and ambitious vision for the future of our town, or whether we allow
Labour to take our town backwards.

Having knocked on hundreds of doors during the campaign, it's clear to me that
residents support the regeneration of the town centre and the investment we've
seen in new parks across the town.

Here are the Redditch Conservative candidates standing in the 10 wards which are
up for election this year.
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The video below should help you decide who to vote for today
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Wychavon

If you live in The Lenches, Inkberrow, Cookhill or Hanbury there are elections to
Wychavon District Council taking place today.

Your Conservatives Councillors on Wychavon District Council have

frozen council tax for 6 years

invested in sport and leisure
supported the local economy
enhanced the environment
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Conservative councils deliver more and cost you less.

Remember your photo ID

You will need to show photographic ID to vote in today's elections.

You will only need to show one form of photo ID when voting at a polling station. It
needs to be the original version and not a photocopy.

You can still use your photo ID if it's out of date, as long as it looks like you. The name
on your ID should be the same name you used to register to vote.

Here are some examples of the accepted forms of photo ID:

Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British
Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country
Driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or
an EEA state
A Blue Badge
Older Persons Bus Pass
Disabled Persons Bus Pass
Oyster 60+ Card
Freedom Pass
Identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS
card)
Biometric immigration document
Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
National identity card issued by an EEA state
Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland.

For more on voter ID please visit the Electoral Commission's website.

As ever, if there's anything I can do to help then please don't hesitate to get in touch
with me. You can find my contact details on my website.
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If you're not already doing so, do follow me on Facebook for daily updates.

No matter who you support, I hope you will use your vote!

Speak soon.

Rachel Maclean MP
Member of Parliament for Redditch and the Villages