By David Williams
5 November 2009
The controversy over MPs’ expenses has been passed to the new independent regulator after the public standards committee published its long-awaited report into the issue.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly, published its recommendations on November 4.
On the same day, former Healthcare Commission chair Sir Ian Kennedy was announced as head of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the body established to implement and run the new expenses regime.
Although MPs appeared to agree that the report should be implemented in full, there were still some doubts that the best solution had been found.
Colin Talbot, professor of public policy and management at Manchester University, told Public Finance the committee should have been asked to look at MPs’ salaries as well.
‘We all know a lot of the expenses were there to compensate for the fact MPs are not paid properly. We’re going to end up with even more underpaid MPs, which is going to keep some good people out of politics.
‘Looking at the expenses issue and ignoring the pay issue seems to be daft.’
Talbot said the Kelly report will probably succeed in easing expenses off the political agenda, but added he was suspicious that the apparent cross-party consensus showed Parliament had been weakened.
Harriet Harman, leader of the House of Commons, told Parliament: ‘The government welcomes and fully accepts the Kelly report, which should be taken as a whole.’
The report was also swiftly endorsed by Opposition leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
Tony Wright, chair of the public administration select committee, said that accepting the findings ‘will finally give us a realistic chance of digging ourselves out of the dreadful mess into which the House has got itself’.
As widely trailed, the Kelly report recommended that MPs should not be able to claim mortgage interest on expenses or employ relatives as personal assistants. It also called for the abolition of the £10,000 annual communications allowance.
Kelly said his recommendations should be implemented in full in time for the next Parliament. ‘I see no reason why this should not be achievable if the will and determination are there… this committee will be watching, closely.’
5 November 2009
The controversy over MPs’ expenses has been passed to the new independent regulator after the public standards committee published its long-awaited report into the issue.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly, published its recommendations on November 4.
On the same day, former Healthcare Commission chair Sir Ian Kennedy was announced as head of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the body established to implement and run the new expenses regime.
Although MPs appeared to agree that the report should be implemented in full, there were still some doubts that the best solution had been found.
Colin Talbot, professor of public policy and management at Manchester University, told Public Finance the committee should have been asked to look at MPs’ salaries as well.
‘We all know a lot of the expenses were there to compensate for the fact MPs are not paid properly. We’re going to end up with even more underpaid MPs, which is going to keep some good people out of politics.
‘Looking at the expenses issue and ignoring the pay issue seems to be daft.’
Talbot said the Kelly report will probably succeed in easing expenses off the political agenda, but added he was suspicious that the apparent cross-party consensus showed Parliament had been weakened.
Harriet Harman, leader of the House of Commons, told Parliament: ‘The government welcomes and fully accepts the Kelly report, which should be taken as a whole.’
The report was also swiftly endorsed by Opposition leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
Tony Wright, chair of the public administration select committee, said that accepting the findings ‘will finally give us a realistic chance of digging ourselves out of the dreadful mess into which the House has got itself’.
As widely trailed, the Kelly report recommended that MPs should not be able to claim mortgage interest on expenses or employ relatives as personal assistants. It also called for the abolition of the £10,000 annual communications allowance.
Kelly said his recommendations should be implemented in full in time for the next Parliament. ‘I see no reason why this should not be achievable if the will and determination are there… this committee will be watching, closely.’
