MPs Attack Plans To Curb Their Expenses

Senior MPs have attacked plans by the expenses watchdog to curb what they are allowed to claim for food, travel and hotels.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) has consulted on reforms that include scrapping the evening meal allowance and banning the use of taxis before 11pm.

But the Standards Committee claimed workers in other professions enjoy more generous allowances as they raised a raft of concerns about the proposals.

In a report, they highlighted proposals that would end the £15 that is claimable for dinner when the House sits beyond 7.30pm.

The committee said it had "no wish to return to the system in which Members were allowed to make blanket claims" but said payments for food are commonly given to workers on business away from home.

"If such expenses are not met by the employer, then the employee is able to claim tax relief on subsistence costs of travel between work places," the report said.

"The rules for MPs are already considerably less generous than this.

"We also note that when there is whipped business, Members must be within easy reach of the division lobbies.

The plans would stop MPs claiming for taxis before 11pm

"Once again, we consider there needs to be a stronger evidence base before it can be asserted that these are costs which other professionals would expect to meet for themselves, unless they had been dealt with through a salary supplement rather than expenses."

The report emerged amid rumours Ipsa's plans to give MPs an 11% pay rise will be signed off within weeks.

This is despite all three main party leaders condemning the idea of a hike at a time when the rest of the country is suffering austerity.

The organisation said the £4.6m extra salary costs would be offset by restrictions to pensions, "golden goodbyes", and expenses - meaning the overall burden on the taxpayer would only go up by £500,000 when the deal took effect after the 2015 general election.

Among the changes planned to allowances are a halt to claims for tea and biscuits and a ban on using taxis to get home before 11pm.

Hotels would only be allowable if they are booked after 1am and there would also be a crackdown on claims for running two homes, with some costs for TV licences and contents insurance no longer being met.

The Standards Committee said it was "surprised by the suggestion" that some of the costs identified are of a kind which workers in other professional jobs would expect to pay for themselves.

It said MPs routinely worked 60 or 70 hours a week but since the new system of allowances had been introduced in the wake of the expenses scandal, some had taken to sleeping in their offices.

"We do not consider that Ipsa has made a case for changing the boundary of the existing scheme of business costs and expenses," the report said.

It said it was "particularly concerned" about the possible impact of changes to taxi and hotel rules on MPs who live in Greater London.

"We find it hard to believe that employers in other sectors would expect their employees to wait until 1am before booking a hotel if it was necessary for them to work beyond the point at which it was possible or sensible to return home and to travel to work in time to start as normal in the morning," the MPs said.

"We are also concerned about the effects of such rules on Members' ability to perform their duties effectively.

"We note that many committees begin work at 8.55am, and Members are expected to attend regardless of the hour at which they ended their work the night before."

Jonathan Isaby, political director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "MPs do an important job and work very hard, but they should not expect taxpayers to be footing the bill for perks which few of the rest of us enjoy ourselves.

"The existing evening meal allowance is particularly difficult to justify when you bear in mind that the bars and restaurants inside Parliament are still subject to an annual taxpayer subsidy running to millions of pounds.

"And how can MPs regard themselves as being on business 'away from home' when most of them are getting a handsome allowance to pay for a second home in London?

"With money tight for families and government alike, politicians need to lead by example and ensure that they are cutting out wasteful or unnecessary spending."

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