There won’t be a person in the land who doesn’t know about MP’s expenses, so news that Sir Christopher Kelly has finally published his recommendations on how MPs expenses could be reformed, generated through the Committee on Standards in Public Life, will be of interest to many.
Here’s a summary
- Support for mortgage interest should be brought to an end, meaning that Flipping will no longer be possible. Any capital gains made during the transitional period attributable to public support will be surrendered to the taxpayer.
- Going forward MPs should be reimbursed only for rent or hotel costs.
- The expenses scheme should only cover additional accommodation costs wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in pursuit of MPs? parliamentary duties – council tax, utility bills, telephone line rental and calls, security, contents insurance and removals at the beginning and end of a tenancy. The costs of cleaning, gardening, furnishings and other items should not be reimbursed or otherwise covered.
- MPs with constituencies within reasonable commuting distance of Parliament should no longer be entitled to additional accommodation. The Committee have proposed a higher rate for those who commute from outside the Greater London area to reflect their higher travel costs.
- The practice of employing family members should be brought to an end by the end of the next Parliament or five years.
- The communication allowance should be abolished.
Sir Christopher Kelly commented, “Revelations about the expenses system have caused considerable damage. I do not believe that trust in those who govern us will be restored unless those in authority show leadership and determination in putting the abuses of the past behind them, however uncomfortable that may be for some.”
Local impact
It’s unclear how the Island MP, Andrew Turner, might be affected by these, so we have contacted him for his response and will publish details as soon as we hear. It may be a little while as he’s in Prime Minister Questions this afternoon.
Update (5/11/09): We saw Andrew Turner today who told us that he had not yet had a chance to look at this issue due to PMQs and the visit of Dan Morris to the Island today, but that he would get back to us on asap.
