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MPs' mortgage claims 'should end' MPs' mortgage claims 'should end'
(about 5 hours later)
MPs should stop claiming for mortgages and employing relatives at public expense, an expenses review recommends. MPs should stop claiming for mortgages and employing relatives with public money, an expenses review recommends.
Mortgage claims should be stopped after an "appropriate transitional" period and employing relatives should be phased out within five years, it says. Both should be phased out over the next Parliament and any profits made on properties until then should go to the taxpayer, it says.
Sir Christopher Kelly also warned MPs to accept his proposals in full and implement them by the next Parliament. Party leaders urged MPs to accept the findings but a new standards body will decide whether to implement them.
David Cameron said MPs should accept the proposals "in full" - Mr Brown said MPs "should accept" them. Inquiry chairman Sir Christopher Kelly told the BBC he was "fairly reassured" but they had left some "wriggle room".
But he said it would be for the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) to implement changes. 'Valuable asset'
Sir Christopher's committee was asked to overhaul the much-criticised expenses system after the expenses scandal and said they had taken a "cold, hard look at what went wrong". Launching the report by the committee for standards in public life, he said it had taken a "cold, hard look at what went wrong" before the expenses scandal broke.
It has recommended that generous resettlement grants for MPs who voluntarily step down be stopped - but not until the election after next.
KEY PROPOSALS MPs to claim for rent not mortgagesBan on employing relativesBan on MPs near London claiming for second homeReduced resettlement grants At-a-glance: Reform plans Will MPs accept expenses reforms? At a glance: expenses reaction
If accepted by the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), MPs would get eight weeks' pay instead - currently long-serving MPs can get a payoff of up to £64,000.
The committee pointed out that the Commons standards committee could already remove the grant from misbehaving MPs and said it "should always consider recommending" it as a sanction.
But implementing the change earlier would not be fair on blameless MPs planning to stand down, Sir Christopher said.
On mortgages, he said MPs should not expect "to acquire a valuable asset at public expense".
Capital gainsCapital gains
It has also, as expected, recommended generous resettlement grants for MPs who voluntarily step down will be stopped - but not until the election after next. Claims for mortgage support should continue for the lifetime of the next Parliament but any "capital gains" on the property over that time should be "surrendered to the taxpayer".
If his recommendations are accepted by the IPSA MPs would get eight weeks' pay instead - under the current system some long-serving MPs can get up to £64,000. Other recommendations include axing the £10,400 a year communications allowance and getting a commercial rental agency to find properties for MPs.
KEY PROPOSALS MPs to claim for rent not mortgagesBan on employing relativesBan on MPs near London claiming for second homeEnd to £25-a-day subsistence claimsReduced resettlement grantsReduced travel claims href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8341932.stm">At-a-glance: Reform plans class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8338096.stm">Will MPs accept expenses reforms? POLITICAL ANALYSIS From political correspondent Ross Hawkins: Sir Christopher Kelly urged MPs to accept his ideas as an entire package, not a menu of options. He won't have heard much from the front benches to worry him. His work is being praised from all sides. But the real work will fall to the university professor who is to take charge of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority - Sir Ian Kennedy. MPs jeered when they heard he would be paid up to £100,000, which is much higher than their salaries. But with a fair few members fuming about the expenses reform - some quietly, some noisily - Sir Ian will be working hard for his money. And the real debate won't now take place against the Commons Green benches, but in submissions to him. href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8342225.stm">The Full Story: Commons exchanges
Sir Christopher said the Commons standards committee could already remove the grant from misbehaving MPs as a sanction and "should do so". He also said there should be some non-MPs on the committee. An interim rule already in place, that MPs within 20 miles of Parliament do not claim for a second home, should be extended to include about 12 MPs who live a little further out but actually have quicker journeys to Westminster.
But implementing the change before this general election would not be fair on blameless MPs who were planning to stand down, he said. On other issues, the report said MPs should not be banned from taking outside employment but it should be restricted to "reasonable limits".
On mortgages he said MPs should not expect "to acquire a valuable asset at public expense" - but MPs with mortgages should continue to get support for the lifetime of the next Parliament. It also suggested IPSA's powers be strengthened and that it might in future also look at MPs' pay and pensions.
However he said any "capital gains" on the property over that time should be "surrendered to the taxpayer".
A commercial rental agency should be used to find MPs' properties and handle payments, the report says.
Other recommendations include axing the £10,400 a year communications allowance, which he said "had been used by some for self publicity".
MPs' anger
MPs should also meet the costs of home-to-work travel themselves, he said.
He backed the Commons decision to deny a second homes allowance to MPs living within 20 miles of Parliament but said it should be extended to about 12 MPs who live just outside that, but due to transport links have quicker journeys to Westminster.
POLITICAL EDITOR'S VIEW From BBC political editor Nick Robinson: A skim read of the document just published reveals two surprises alongside confirmation of the tough new regime on second homes and employing family members.
Kelly rejects the cry of many Labour MPs that MPs should be barred from having other jobs. He also says that the new independent regulator should set MPs pay and pensions. For those fearing that politics may become a rich man's game this will be some comfort. To those who fear snouts in the trough it will be a source of real concern
Several MPs had been annoyed at reports that he would recommend any MP living within a 60-minute train journey to London should not get the allowance - something that is not in the report.
Other recommendations include reducing the allowance for inner London MPs - raised from £2,916 to £7,500 this year - and restricting second homes claims to rent, hotel payments and bills.
MPs should not be banned from taking outside employment but it should be restricted to "reasonable limits", the report said.
But it made no proposals on MPs' pay - saying that was a job for the senior salaries review body.
"Our proposals are reasonable and fair and bring Westminster into line with other walks of life and other legislatures," Sir Christopher said."Our proposals are reasonable and fair and bring Westminster into line with other walks of life and other legislatures," Sir Christopher said.
Tests 'met' They aimed to ensure "that MPs are properly supported and fully reimbursed for necessary costs" while providing stronger safeguards for the taxpayer.
He said they aimed to ensure "that MPs are properly supported and fully reimbursed for necessary costs incurred in doing their important" while also providing stronger safeguards for the taxpayer. He said party leaders' demands that his recommendations reduced costs, increased transparency and increased accountability "have all been met".
He said he had had assurances in the summer from Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg that they would accept his proposals in full - as long as they met three tests of reduced costs, increasing transparency and increasing accountability. And he warned against anyone "distancing themselves from earlier expressed determination to implement" his report.
'Backsliding' warning
Some have argued that the changes risk discouraging less wealthy people from becoming MPs but Sir Christopher said that was a matter that had to be addressed through MPs' pay, not allowances.
In a letter to Sir Christopher, the prime minister says he "accepts" the report but it will be for the new standards body IPSA to implement.
KELLY REPORT Committee on Standards in Public Life: MPs' expenses and allowances [976 KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader hereKELLY REPORT Committee on Standards in Public Life: MPs' expenses and allowances [976 KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here
He said it was clear that the tests "have all been met". Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and Tory leader David Cameron have said the recommendations should be accepted "in full".
He added that there was a risk, as time went by, that "some may be thinking of distancing themselves from earlier expressed determination to implement" his report. Mr Clegg warned against "backsliding" and said it was "ludicrous" to leave it to IPSA to decide what to implement.
"That would, in my view, be an error," he warned. Mr Cameron said it was important that MPs accept the proposals in full, adding: "Isn't that an essential part of restoring faith in Parliament, in politics and in this House of Commons, that all of us care about?"
"The damage that has been done ... has been very considerable. I don't believe the trust in those who govern us will be restored unless those in authority show leadership and determination." 'Wriggle room'
'Mixed signals' The prime minister said public trust must be restored adding: "That is why we should accept the Kelly recommendations and make sure they are implemented as quickly as possible."
A new regime can only become law if it is adopted by the newly created standards body IPSA - and is not likely to happen until after the next election. But asked if he was reassured that the proposals would be accepted, Sir Christopher told BBC Radio 4's World at One he was "fairly reassured" but there was "always wriggle room" with politicians.
In a letter to Sir Christopher, the prime minister says he is "determined that we sweep away this old system". Leaders agree on expenses reforms
He says he "accepts" the report but it will be for IPSA to implement, adding: "IPSA will set to work immediately and we expect they will proceed swiftly to put these changes into effect." Commons Leader Harriet Harman told MPs it was important less wealthy MPs and those with young families were able to afford to do the job.
But Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and Tory leader David Cameron have challenged him to say he will accept the recommendations "in full". And both she and her Tory shadow Sir George Young, in an apparent reference to the ban on employing relatives, said IPSA must work within employment law - some relatives have said they may challenge any effort to ban them from working for MPs.
Mr Brown told MPs it was "right to refer the Kelly report for action and implementation" to IPSA and said most MPs were hard working and determined to serve the public. But she said the government "welcomes and fully accepts the Kelly report which should be taken as a whole".
"That's why we should accept the Kelly recommendations," he said. She also confirmed that, under an interim chief executive, IPSA had already started work and a new expenses regime would be in place for the next election.
His official spokesman confirmed to reporters that Mr Brown backed them "in full". In a brief debate on the expenses proposals, several MPs warned Ms Harman it would be wrong to "cherry pick" recommendations they liked and dispense of those they did not.
Some MPs want a vote on the proposals while some relatives who work for them say they will fight to keep their jobs.
The BBC understands that Commons Speaker John Bercow will also tell MPs not to try to "block, neuter or minimise reform".