WHAT WE WANTED DONE LAST YEAR
May 13, 2009 4:50 PM
Unfortunately the media have acted like the row over MPs allowances has come out of the blue, however for those with longer memories you will recall I was involved with the 'Review of Allowances' in June 2008, which recognised the situation was fatally out of hand.
I and those involved made key recommendations:
• That the House extends the scope of audit engagement so that it is the same as for other public bodies.
• The receipt threshold should be reduced from £25 to zero and that all claims, however small will have to be backed by receipts.
• That the Green Book (setting out the rules on allowances for Members) be revised to specify more detailed rules.
• With immediate effect, Members should no longer be able to claim reimbursement for furniture and household goods or for capital improvements.
• That new MPs to the next Parliament to represent constituencies in outer London should be eligible to claim half of any overnight expenses allowance; and all MP representing those seats should be restricted to claim half the standard rate from the start of the following Parliament.
• That the Additional Costs Allowance be adapted to an overnight expenses allowance, comprising a £19,600 maximum for accommodation (excluding furniture, household goods and capital improvements) but operating on the basis of itemised reimbursement and a flat rate of £30 for daily subsistence.
• That, instead of the London Supplement (which Sir John Baker recommended should be increased to £3,623), the extra living cost and working unsociable hours in London should be reflected in a new London cost allowance consolidated into a taxable amount of £7,500 for MPs who do not or are not eligible to claim the Additional Costs Allowance.
Most of these recommendations which would have finally grappled with the situation were voted out by the House. Now that the situation has reached crisis point the reforms will have to be even further reaching to restore shattered public confidence. Only now are certain MPs falling over themselves seeking to make amends - in the public's eyes it is too little too late.
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