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MPs expenses clean-up panel named Diana coroner on expenses panel
(about 14 hours later)
The candidates to run the body set up to oversee the clean-up of MPs' expenses have been announced. The judge who conducted the inquest into Princess Diana's death is set to join a panel overseeing MPs' expenses.
They are former judge Lord Justice Scott Baker, auditor Professor Isobel Sharp, former MP Jackie Ballard and businessman Ken Olisa. Lord Justice Scott Baker is a candidate for the board of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, set up after the expenses scandal.
If confirmed by MPs, they will form the board of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which is charged with implementing expenses reform. It will decide whether MPs should stop claiming for mortgages and employing relatives and will run the new system.
Commons Speaker John Bercow said they had been chosen in an open process. Ex-MP Jackie Ballard, auditor Isobel Sharp and businessman Ken Olisa are the other candidates for the board.
Following hundreds of revelations about parliamentary expenses over the summer, a review by Sir Christopher Kelly recommended sweeping reforms to the system. Their names were announced by Commons Speaker John Bercow on Tuesday but they have yet to be approved by MPs.
Allowance bans MSPs' expenses review
It said MPs should be banned from claiming towards the cost of their mortgages and employing relatives at public expense. Lord Justice Scott Baker is an appeal court judge who sat as coroner in the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed.
Other proposals included a ban on MPs near London claiming for a second home, an end to MPs' £25-a-day subsistence allowance and a ban on the £10,000 communication allowance. Professor Sharp, a partner at Deloitte LLP, sat on an independent review last year into expenses at the Scottish Parliament.
But Sir Christopher's proposals can only become law if they are approved by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). Ms Ballard was Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 to 2001 and has served as director general of the RSPCA. She is currently chief executive of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.
The body's chairman, Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, and the candidates for the board must be confirmed by the House of Commons before being formally appointed by the Queen, though the final stages of the appointment process are regarded as virtually a formality. Mr Olisa is the founder of merchant bank Restoration Partners.
Mr Bercow put forward their names following an independent selection procedure and approval by the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which is made up of senior MPs. MPs' expenses were at the centre of a huge scandal over the summer
CVs Mr Bercow put forward their names following an independent selection procedure and approval by a committee of senior MPs.
Lord Justice Scott Baker is an appeal court judge who sat as coroner in the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed. He also served on the Warnock Committee of Inquiry into human fertilisation. The chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Professor Ian Kennedy, has also yet to be confirmed by MPs before being formally appointed by the Queen, though the final stages of the process are regarded as virtually a formality.
Prof Sharp is a partner at Deloitte LLP and a visiting professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School. She sat on an independent review which looked into expenses at the Scottish Parliament last year. The new body was set up by emergency legislation before the summer recess amid public anger at claims made by some MPs under their second homes allowances.
Ms Ballard was Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 to 2001 and has also served as chief executive of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and director general of the RSPCA. It has been charged with overhauling the system following a six-month independent inquiry by the committee on standards in public life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly.
Mr Olisa is the founder of merchant bank Restoration Partners and also serves on the boards of Reuters, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation and Open Text. Sir Christopher has recommended sweeping reforms - including a ban on MPs' employing relatives at public expense and on claiming towards mortgage interest payments.
The Parliamentary Standards Act passed in the wake of the expenses scandals provided for the establishment of Ipsa to oversee the MPs' allowance scheme. Other allowances would be axed or reduced under Sir Christopher's proposals but Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is not obliged to implement them.
The legislation requires that, as well as a chairman, the board should have four members, including at least one former holder of high judicial office, one qualified auditor and one former MP. Amid reports Sir Ian Kennedy had concerns about some of the more radical reforms, several MPs urged him not to "unravel" the Kelly report.
After being nominated Sir Ian said Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority must establish a "fair and effective" new system which responded to the public's concerns and stressed it would be "independent - of Parliament, government and of any other particular interest".
Under the Parliamentary Standards Act, which set up the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the body must have a chairman and four board members, including at least one former holder of high judicial office, one qualified auditor and one former MP.
Board members are expected to work two or three days a month and will be paid £400 a day.Board members are expected to work two or three days a month and will be paid £400 a day.