Expenses regime succeeding 'against daunting odds'

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The chief executive of the parliamentary expenses body has rejected claims that the new body is failing.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph written to mark the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority's (Ipsa) three month anniversary, Andrew McDonald said that on average MPs offices spend just 15 minutes a day submitting their expenses.

"Which, given the significant sums of public money involved, does not seem unreasonable," he said.

And he said that MPs claims are usually processed within 13 days.

"Claim and counter-claim. Rumours about individuals, rules or ideology are rebutted by evidence, usually too late to stop the rumour gaining some currency. Much ado in the Westminster village," he said.

"All I will say is that I am pleased with what we have achieved to date – against daunting odds.”

Since it was set up in the wake of last summer's expenses scandal Ipsa officials have clashed angrily with MPs over the operation of the new expenses regime.

A Westminster Hall debate on the subject, sessions which are usually see attendances in the single figures, was packed with around 47 MPs. And a raucous committee hearing examining Ipsa saw McDonald heckled by MPs from the public seats.

The first wave of expenses filed under the new system are due to be published soon, to be followed by a review of the new rules.

In his article McDonald observes that Ipsa will also take responsibility for setting MPs pay – which may form new battle lines in Westminster.

Amid all the tension between MPs and the new expenses body, He also warned against those in the Westminster village forgetting the reason Ipsa had been created in the first place.

"One of our core purposes is to improve public confidence in the way taxpayers’ money is dispersed to MPs," he said.

"Last year, for the first time, the public were given the chance to influence the rules when Ipsa consulted them.

"This will be ongoing continuing dialogue and we will again invite the public to participate in the conversation when we review where we are and reflect on the rules."

He adds: "Of course within Westminster there is going to be great interest, engagement and noise.

"But the challenge for Ipsa, as regulator of MPs’ recompense, is to take heed of that debate while remembering our broader obligations to the public."

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