By Richard Johnstone | 23 September 2011
The watchdog established to scrutinise MPs expenses after abuses of the system were exposed in 2009 has proved expensive to run and is not yet value for money, a Commons committee has concluded.
The Public Accounts Committee’s report into theIndependent Parliamentary Standards Authority found that the new expenses system has begun to regain trust after what it calls the ‘crisis in public confidence’.However, MPs said that the office was established too quickly to achieve good value for money in its set-up costs, which amounted to £4.4m.
They highlight that IPSA chose an office that was ‘too big for its long-term needs’, providing space for 90 employees when it currently has only around 60.
IPSA paid out more than £118m in 2010/11, made up of £98.6m in MP and staff salaries and £19.5m in expenses. The authority says there has been no abuse of the new expenses regime.
The PAC calls for the watchdog to consider a ‘more proportionate and cost effective approach to validation’ of claims, after finding that it, in two out of five cases, it cost IPSA more to process claims than the amount being claimed for.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge said:‘It is striking that 38% of claims are for less money than the average cost of administering them.
‘IPSA needs to get better at distinguishing between high-value and high-risk claims, which require rigorous checks, and those where the risk of error is low.’
