Previous News
- 02 Feb 2010 Committee on Standards in Public Life publishes annual report and response to IPSA consultation on MPs' expenses
- 27 Jan 2010 Sir Christopher Kelly is due to appear before PASC on the 4th February
- 04 Nov 2009 Committee on Standards in Public Life Publishes Report on MPs' Expenses and Allowances
- 16 Oct 2009 Committee on Standards in Public Life Announces Date of Publication for MPs' Expenses Report
- 08 Sep 2009 MPs' Expenses - Public Hearings
- 17 Jun 2009 Committee on Standards in Public Life to hold second hearing
- 15 Jun 2009 Committee on Standards in Public Life to hold first hearing
- 01 Jun 2009 David Prince Appointed to CSPL
- See all previous news articles
Committee on Standards in Public Life publishes annual report and response to IPSA consultation on MPs' expenses
The Committee on Standards in Public Life today published its annual report for 2008-09 and its response to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority's consultation on MPs' expenses.
Sir Christopher Kelly, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life said:
"The Committee's work over the past year has been dominated by the issue of MPs' expenses. Our inquiry into this issue involved extensive public consultation and we were pleased that the package of recommendations we put forward were accepted as a whole by the leaders of the three main parties and endorsed by the Speaker.
"Everyone recognises the importance of ensuring that the new system for reimbursing MPs' expenses is settled as soon as possible. It is vital that candidates standing for election in the coming months are clear about the system in place to support them and the standards expected of them.
"In preparing the new expenses scheme IPSA are required to consult and it should come as no surprise that my Committee continues to argue for the implementation of the package of recommendations that we made in our report last November.
"In particular we wish to highlight three issues:
- continued payment of mortgage interest during the 5 year transitional period should be conditional on the payment of any capital gain attributable to that support;
- to ensure a system which is free from any suspicion of abuse, the employment of family members should cease and
- that the definition of what constitutes a reasonable commuting distance for MPs should be decided by an evidence based process."
A copy of our annual report can be downloaded here (pdf 144Kb).
A copy of our response to the IPSA consultation can be downloaded here (pdf 150Kb).
