The Prime Minister was judged to have accidentally violated House of Commons transparency standards by failing to declare his wife’s ownership of a company that stands to benefit from new Government policies.
Akshata Murthy is an investor in Koru Kids, one of six private childcare providers likely to gain from a pilot scheme revealed in Jeremy Hunt’s most recent budget.
Jeremy Hunt revealed that new childminders will earn £600, however this amount will be doubled if they sign up through an agency such as Koru Kids.
Rishi Sunak did not report his wife’s investment in his parliamentary register of MP interests, but he did mention it in his separate ministerial record.
Mr Sunak should have revealed his involvement in the policy when questioned about it by the House of Commons’ Liaison Committee in March of this year, according to Parliament’s Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg last night.
However Mr Greenberg clarified he was satisfied the PM had confused rules on registering and declaring interests.
He concluded: “Having considered the information available to me, I have decided that the breach of the code appears to have been inadvertent. I confirm that the matter is now closed”.