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Expenses rules allow food claims | Expenses rules allow food claims |
(about 5 hours later) | |
MPs will still be able to make some claims for food, without producing receipts, under amended expenses rules. | MPs will still be able to make some claims for food, without producing receipts, under amended expenses rules. |
The Green Book governing MPs' expenses, updated after the expenses scandal, has been published on Parliament's website. | |
Many MPs had faced criticism under the old rules for claiming up to £400 a month for food, without receipts, even when Parliament was in recess. | |
The amended rules allow them to claim £25 for each night they are away from home on Parliamentary business. | |
Under the old rules MPs could claim up to £4,800 a year, regardless of how many days Parliament was sitting. | |
Under the new rules, if MPs were to claim for every day Parliament sat during the 128-day session this year, they could get a maximum of £3,200. | |
Higher claims? | |
The amended rules have kept a clause stating: "A flat-rate sum of £25 may be claimed for any night which a member spends away from his or her main home on parliamentary business. | |
"No receipt is necessary in respect of the flat-rate payment for subsistence." | "No receipt is necessary in respect of the flat-rate payment for subsistence." |
But the Daily Telegraph, the newspaper which broke a series of stories about claims made under the old expenses system, said there was no way to verify how many nights MPs spent away from their main home on parliamentary business - and said claims could reach up to £9,125 a year. | |
Senior Labour backbencher Sir Stuart Bell denied the system could be abused, saying MPs would be expected to keep a record of nights spent away from home. | |
A Commons Commission spokeswoman said Speaker John Bercow was "conscious of public concern" over claims made without receipts and would raise the issue at the next meeting of the Members Estimate Committee, which considers MPs' pay and allowances. | A Commons Commission spokeswoman said Speaker John Bercow was "conscious of public concern" over claims made without receipts and would raise the issue at the next meeting of the Members Estimate Committee, which considers MPs' pay and allowances. |
But she dismissed as "ludicrous" reports that more than £9,000 could be claimed under the rules. | But she dismissed as "ludicrous" reports that more than £9,000 could be claimed under the rules. |
Following the expenses furore earlier this year, MPs voted for a series of reforms to their expenses system. | |
Last week the Parliamentary Standards Bill, which sets up an independent body to run MPs' expenses, passed into law. | Last week the Parliamentary Standards Bill, which sets up an independent body to run MPs' expenses, passed into law. |
But the BBC understands that the system is likely to change yet again when an independent inquiry, conducted by Sir Christopher Kelly, reports in the autumn. | But the BBC understands that the system is likely to change yet again when an independent inquiry, conducted by Sir Christopher Kelly, reports in the autumn. |