MPs to raise expenses rule anger

MPs’ anger about their expenses system will be aired in the Commons later when they debate the body which runs it.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, to restore faith in the way MPs allowances were run.

But MPs regularly raise complaints about its complexity and effectiveness.

The debate, proposed by Conservative Adam Afriyie and backed by 40 MPs, comes as Ipsa publishes MPs’ claims made between May and August.

Ipsa will publish a breakdown of each claim, including the date, amount and a basic description.

Individual receipts will not be published due to cost, nor will rejected claims, as Ipsa agreed to give MPs a few months to get used to the new system.

But a Freedom of Information request by the Times revealed that more than 1,500 claims submitted between May and August were not paid for various reasons – either because of mistakes made by MPs, or by Ipsa itself. Rejected claims will be published in future.

Having an external, independent regulator for MPs’ expenses was a key recommendation of a seven-month inquiry into the system last year.

Previously the Commons’ own fees office had paid out claims – a system that was discredited during the expenses scandal in 2009 when lavish claims made under the second homes allowance came to light.

But while Ipsa is an external regulator, a committee of MPs, the Speaker’s Committee, proposes its members and signs off its cost estimate. It requested £6.46m for its administrative costs for 2010-11 but said that included set-up costs.

Mr Afriyie’s motion “regrets” the “unnecessarily high costs and inadequacies” of the new expenses system.

The motion also calls for a simpler scheme for office expenses and calls for time to be made available for MPs to amend the legislation which set it up, if the system is not improved.

It was accepted for debate by the new backbench business committee – itself a result of reforms drawn up in the wake of the expenses scandal – which now controls the timetable for non-ministerial debates and motions.

The committee said it had been approached three times by Mr Afriyie about debating Ipsa – whose motion has the backing of more than 40 MPs.

However others are critical of the move. Labour’s John Mann told BBC Radio 5live: “Some MPs are trying to get rid of the independent system, threatening it with legislating it out of existence – it shows how clinging to the past is still a bit of a problem in Westminster.”

Ipsa is conducting an annual review of its rules and is consulting MPs and others about the way they work and has already introduced some “simplifications” to the way it administers them, including allowing direct payments to landlords for rental charges.

Before Mr Afriyie’s debate begins, a separate debate will be held on another expenses-related issue – the wider publication of fast-tracked expenses complaints which have been criticised in the press as “secret deals”.

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon wants permission to publish on his website details of expenses cases dealt with under the so-called “rectification” procedure – used to deal with cases where MPs are judged to have made “less serious” expenses mistakes.

The procedure allows MPs to apologise and repay the money, rather than face a full-blown standards investigation and widely published report, although the conclusions are passed to whoever made the complaint.

However a motion to allow Mr Lyon to publish the details more widely was delayed on 17 November when one MP cried “object”. He also objected to another motion aimed at giving Mr Lyon the power to initiate investigations into whether an MP had breached the code of conduct. Currently the standards commissioner has to wait for a formal complaint.

Both will be debated again on Thursday.

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