MP takes on standards role

MP Oliver Heald has been appointed to the Committee on Standards in Public Life. He will replace Baroness Gillian Shephard on the watchdog body which examines conduct in public life. The committee has additional responsibilty for looking into the funding

MP Oliver Heald has been appointed to the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

He will replace Baroness Gillian Shephard on the watchdog body which examines conduct in public life.

The committee has additional responsibilty for looking into the funding of political parties.

Mr Heald, the MP for North East Herts, said he was "delighted" to be appointed to the committee.

He has always been a champion for the needs of transparency in public life and while a member of the House of Commons Commission had advoated the publication of MPs allowances.

Mr Heald described the committee as important in "upholding the highest standards in public life".

He continued: "I believe my commitment to openness and transparency and proper enforcement of standards will help me in this role."

His political experience includes a time between September 2004 to June 2007 when he was a Shadow Cabinet member as Opposition Constitutional Affairs Secretary.

Two other new members of the committee were announced when Mr Heald was told of his appointment. They were Sir Derek Morris, the provost of Oriel College, Oxford, and Dame Denise Platt, chairman of the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate.

Committee chairman Sir Christopher Kelly said Mr Heald and the other new members would make a "valuable contribution" to the work of the committee.