Expenses Bill ‘not being rushed’, says Straw

16 Jul 09
Justice Secretary Jack Straw has rejected suggestions from MPs that the emergency legislation to clean up Parliament is being rushed through dangerously fast.
By Alex Klaushofer

16 July 2009

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has rejected suggestions from MPs that the emergency legislation to clean up Parliament is being rushed through dangerously fast.

The Parliamentary Standards Bill is due to complete its passage through Parliament before the summer recess. It will set up a new system and regulatory authority to govern MPs’ allowances.

But the speed of the process has drawn widespread criticism from standards experts and the House of Lords constitution committee. It fears that the legislation is going through without adequate preparation or scrutiny.

‘Of course I’d prefer to take time,’ Straw told the Commons’ justice select committee on July 14. ‘But I happen to think the benefits of having this Bill on the statute book this side of the summer... and to try and get this body established as quickly as possible, those benefits outweigh the risks.’

But he admitted there were ‘risks about proceeding speedily’, and that he was ‘frustrated about the shortage of time’.

He confirmed that the government had decided to drop plans to introduce similar reforms to the House of Lords, where peers have also been mired in expenses scandals.

‘I thought there would be a general welcome in the House of Lords for the authority to be extended to the House of Lords, because they may face similar issues in the future, but currently they resist the idea,’ he said.

‘I think the extent of concern by the Lords that this could apply to the Lords has taken the Commons by surprise, given the indications we had earlier, but this is part of the process of discussion.

‘The House of Lords is genuinely self-governing. We have no leverage in respect of their allowances, nor they in respect of ours. So they’ve got to make decisions themselves, and the circumstances are inherently different given the fact they are not elected, do not have constituencies, and seldom have main homes outside London,’ he added.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life’s  inquiry into MPs’ expenses is due to report in October. The justice secretary rejected suggestions from MP Andrew Tyrie that the committee might come up with recommendations that differed from the reforms set in train by the government.

‘I find it hard to believe that Sir Christopher Kelly’s proposals won’t simply slot in to the proposals set by this authority,’ Straw said.

He expected the new parliamentary standards authority to be set up by January 1, he added.

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