More MPs' Expenses
The Daily Telegraph highlighted yesterday that MPs who admit breaking expenses rules - have been offered secret Parliamentary deals to repay the money without being identified.
The full article can be read on line at - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ - but here's a summary of the key points.
Immunity for MPs who repay expenses
"Janet Anderson, a Labour MP, was allowed to secretly repay almost £6,000 last year for over-claiming "petty cash" on her taxpayer-funded expenses.
Dozens of MPs are understood to have paid back money without their names or abuses being disclosed to the public following the fast-tracked inquiries into their conduct.
The disclosure about the secret justice system will add to growing concerns over the safeguards in place to punish MPs found to have misused public funds.
The behind closed doors system means voters are not being told if their MP has inappropriately claimed thousands of pounds for their second home, office or travel.
The loophole was introduced in 2005 under the auspices of Michael Martin, the discredited former speaker.
John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, has begun the widespread use of a controversial “rectification procedure” which undermines pledges from party leaders to give the public “transparency” over their MPs’ expense claims.
The Parliamentary Commissioner is traditionally regarded as an independent figure who considers complaints made against MPs by members of the public. He has been inundated with complaints made in the wake of the expenses scandal exposed by The Daily Telegraph.
The threat of being publicly censured is one of the major deterrents for MPs not to break the rules.
MPs such as Derek Conway, Jacqui Smith and Tony McNulty have effectively seen their careers ended after being publicly criticised following investigations.
However, it has now emerged that Mr Lyon is taking advantage of a little-known Parliamentary rule that allows complaints about financial misconduct to be settled behind closed doors.
They have to privately apologise to the Committee of Standards and Privileges, the group of MPs overseeing the conduct of politicians - but their misconduct is then not made public.
It is not clear why the identities of those making repayments are not made public in the same way that criminals pleading guilty who do not face a full court trial are named.
Mr Lyon has sharply increased the use of this “rectification procedure” since being appointed in January 2008. He has allowed 16 cases to be dealt with in this way last year – compared to an average of just three a year during the tenure of the previous commissioner.
The secret deals have only come to light after this newspaper learnt that Mrs Anderson, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen, had paid back almost £5,750 after admitting to Mr Lyon that she regularly claimed twice as much petty cash as was permitted.
MPs were allowed to claim £250 a month in the “no questions asked” allowance. But on 23 occasions, Mrs Anderson claimed it twice.
When the overclaim was first uncovered she said that she had believed she was entitled to the payment for both her Westminster and constituency offices and did not think she should have to repay the money.
However, prompted by a Daily Telegraph report on Mrs Anderson's case, a complaint was lodged with Mr Lyon by a member of the public.
In his last annual report Mr Lyon wrote that he typically considered using the procedure “where there was no clear evidence that the breach [of Commons rules] was intentional and it was at the less serious end of the spectrum.” "
The full article can be read on line at - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ - but here's a summary of the key points.
Immunity for MPs who repay expenses
"Janet Anderson, a Labour MP, was allowed to secretly repay almost £6,000 last year for over-claiming "petty cash" on her taxpayer-funded expenses.
Dozens of MPs are understood to have paid back money without their names or abuses being disclosed to the public following the fast-tracked inquiries into their conduct.
The disclosure about the secret justice system will add to growing concerns over the safeguards in place to punish MPs found to have misused public funds.
The behind closed doors system means voters are not being told if their MP has inappropriately claimed thousands of pounds for their second home, office or travel.
The loophole was introduced in 2005 under the auspices of Michael Martin, the discredited former speaker.
John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, has begun the widespread use of a controversial “rectification procedure” which undermines pledges from party leaders to give the public “transparency” over their MPs’ expense claims.
The Parliamentary Commissioner is traditionally regarded as an independent figure who considers complaints made against MPs by members of the public. He has been inundated with complaints made in the wake of the expenses scandal exposed by The Daily Telegraph.
The threat of being publicly censured is one of the major deterrents for MPs not to break the rules.
MPs such as Derek Conway, Jacqui Smith and Tony McNulty have effectively seen their careers ended after being publicly criticised following investigations.
However, it has now emerged that Mr Lyon is taking advantage of a little-known Parliamentary rule that allows complaints about financial misconduct to be settled behind closed doors.
They have to privately apologise to the Committee of Standards and Privileges, the group of MPs overseeing the conduct of politicians - but their misconduct is then not made public.
It is not clear why the identities of those making repayments are not made public in the same way that criminals pleading guilty who do not face a full court trial are named.
Mr Lyon has sharply increased the use of this “rectification procedure” since being appointed in January 2008. He has allowed 16 cases to be dealt with in this way last year – compared to an average of just three a year during the tenure of the previous commissioner.
The secret deals have only come to light after this newspaper learnt that Mrs Anderson, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen, had paid back almost £5,750 after admitting to Mr Lyon that she regularly claimed twice as much petty cash as was permitted.
MPs were allowed to claim £250 a month in the “no questions asked” allowance. But on 23 occasions, Mrs Anderson claimed it twice.
When the overclaim was first uncovered she said that she had believed she was entitled to the payment for both her Westminster and constituency offices and did not think she should have to repay the money.
However, prompted by a Daily Telegraph report on Mrs Anderson's case, a complaint was lodged with Mr Lyon by a member of the public.
In his last annual report Mr Lyon wrote that he typically considered using the procedure “where there was no clear evidence that the breach [of Commons rules] was intentional and it was at the less serious end of the spectrum.” "
