What this is about is ensuring that we get a grip on a system that is taking MPs time away from constituents and is costing the taxpayer too much money
Adam Afiyie
The stand-off between the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and MPs has continued, with the watchdog roundly rejecting claims that it has leaked information about expenses to the media.
The move came as the expenses regime came under renewed fire in a Commons debate.
In a statement issued this afternoon the chairman of the expenses body, Sir Ian Kennedy, said: "I have been made aware of remarks made on the floor of the House of Commons by Ann Clwyd in which she accused IPSA's director of communications of leaking information to the Times about the publication of MPs' expenses and otherwise briefing journalists in an inappropriate manner.
"These allegations are categorically untrue and it is regrettable that MPs should resort to making statements of this kind on the floor of the House of Commons.
"What the Times obtained from ISPA was obtained through an request under the Freedom of Information Act, as was widely reported yesterday."
He added: "I regret deeply, as will many, such attempts to undermine the professional integrity members of my organisation."
Yesterday the newspaper revealed that Ipsa rejected 1,574 claims from MPs totalling more than £116,000 in the last five months. Ipsa said these cases were largely due to MPs getting to grips with the new system rather than attempting to make inappropriate claims.
Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, Labour MP Anne Clwyd said she had been told that an employee of Ipsa had been offering "juicy bits" of information about MPs' expense claims to journalists. And she pointed the finger at Ipsa's director of communications, Anne Power.
Clwyd said: "If that is the case then she can refute it or agree that it is true, I have every reason to believe my source that that is the case."
"How could they get the story unless someone at Ipsa was leaking the story to them?" she asked.
And speaking after hearing of Ipsa's statement, Clwyd told MPs that it did not respond to the points and allegations she had made. She said she was referring to stories that had "not yet emerged in the press" rather than the article in yesterday's newspapers.
Simpler scheme
The MP for Cynon Valley was speaking during a debate introduced by Conservative MP Adam Afriyie which called for a "simpler scheme" for expense claims to be brought in by April 2011.
Ipsa launched a new website this morning detailing 22,000 claims made by 576 MPs between May 7 and August 31, although an Ipsa spokesperson told ePolitix.com the launch of the site was not deliberately timed to coincide with the debate.
The motion debated by MPs read: "That this House regrets the unnecessarily high costs and inadequacies of the systems introduced by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa).
"And calls on the Ipsa to introduce a simpler scheme of office expenses and members' allowances that cuts significantly the administrative costs, reduces the amount of time needed for administration by members and their staff, does not disadvantage less well-off members and those with family responsibilities, nor deter members from seeking reimbursement of the costs of fulfilling their parliamentary duties;
"And believes that if these objectives are not reflected in a new scheme set out by the Ipsa in time for operation by 1 April 2011, the leader of the House should make time available for the amendment of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 to do so."
Afriyie was keen to stress that he wanted the debate to be about how to create a better system, rather than just be a forum for MPs to whine about the expenses regime.
"What this is about is ensuring that we get a grip on a system that is taking MPs' time away from constituents and is costing the taxpayer too much money," he said.
The Windsor MP said the system run by Ipsa discriminated against MPs with family commitments or who come from less well off backgrounds as not a single MP of the 350 he had spoken to personally had claimed what they were entitled to claim for fear of the public or media "having a go".
And he said MPs should not be afraid to speak up against the regime "purely because we are nervous about the initial public reaction about what we are saying".
New figures
The figures published today showed that David Cameron claimed £2,581.13 in total over the period covered.
The majority of his claim was spent on his subscription to the Parliamentary Resources Unit, which provides research for MPs. He also claimed for stationery including £94 for 2,500 sheets of A4 House of Commons paper.
Labour leader Ed Miliband claimed £2,066.27 for a combination of rent and constituency office costs, including £82.25 on photocopier toner cartridge.
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg was among the 78 MPs who did not make any claims in the period. This number also included Afriyie, who successfully lobbied the backbench business committee to schedule the debate.
New website
Ipsa's new website experienced some teething problems soon after its launch, with users frequently confronted with error messages. The searchable database permits users to find out what individual MPs have claimed and download the data in a spreadsheet format.
The body faces criticism for its decision not to publish individual receipts, leading to fears MPs may still be able to cover up embarrassing claims from their constituents.
Ipsa has argued that the cost of preparing tens of thousands of receipts for publication would be more than £1m a year and "would not provide value for taxpayers' money".
Sir Ian said his organisation had a duty to "observe commons sense and value for money".
He said: "Common sense means protecting individuals – which is why we are not issuing personal sensitive details. Value for public money means not spending more than £1m a year on a bureaucratic process which will not add to understanding."
Relations between MPs and Ipsa have been strained since it began the job of policing MPs expense claims in May.
In August the body published details of alleged abuse of its staff by angry MPs, including one parliamentarian who described the new online expenses system as an "abortion" while another said it made her want to "murder someone".
Article Comments
The expenses row will continue until MP's realise that they cannot,and should not claim for payments that are not used for their parliamentary duties,they should be up front and honest, the public have had enough of dishonesty over expenses claims, maybe MP's expenses should be limited too a figure of perhaps £50.00 per week surely that's enough for stationery????.Their salary £65.000 should be enough for their living expenses,I'm sure the vast majority of the public would love that sort of income per annum.
John Grant
2nd Dec 2010 at 9:52 pm
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