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£500m cost of running Parliament Cost of running Parliament falls
(about 1 hour later)
The cost of running the Houses of Parliament was almost £500m in 2008-9, figures show. The cost of running the Houses of Parliament fell by more than £30m last year to just under £500m, figures show.
The cost of the Commons was up more than £12m on the previous year, at £391.8m, a written answer by Lords leader Baroness Royall has revealed. The overall expense for taxpayers in 2008/9 came to £498.4m, down from £531.8 the previous year.
But the Lords costs fell from £152.5m to £106.5m. The totals include salaries, allowances and pensions for MPs, peers and administrative staff. The cost of the House of Commons increased by more than £12m, but the bill for running the House of Lords was reduced by £46m.
The last parliamentary session saw a scandal over MPs' expenses claims. The biggest single outgoing for Parliament was for MPs' salaries and pensions, which came to £157.2m.
In response, a bill to "clean up" Parliament was passed before the summer recess. The total figures include wages for members and staff, building expenses, security and other administration.
The Parliamentary Standards Bill sets up an independent body to authorise MPs' expenses. In 2008/9 the cost of running the Lords fell from £152.5m to £106.5m.
The government said the new authorisation process, combined with full transparency in the disclosure of claims, would mean past abuses could not be repeated. The reason for this was that the amount spent on what is listed as "other administration costs" went down from £89.8m to £39.8m.
However, the total cost of keeping the Commons going increased from £379.2m to £391.8m.
The amount spent on MPs' salaries and pensions rose by almost £6m.
The figures come in a written answer from Baroness Royall, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in response to the crossbench peer Viscount Tenby.