by David Hencke
Figures released by Parliament last month contain an extraordinary twist in the long running-saga of the Coomons expenses scandal – MPs could have claimed even more cash in the recent bonanza. They show that, for the past two years, the parliamentary authorities have underspent their expenses budget by almost £18 million.
In 2007-08, at the height of the expenses scandal – when claims were being made for moat cleaning and duck houses – there was actually spare cash in the coffers. The authorities underspent the expenses budget by
£10 million, including by £2 million or 14.65 per cent on the controversial second homes allowance and £2.1 million or 15.6 per cent on the incidental expenses allowances – for MPs’ offices. This was despite the number of claims reaching 54,000 – a record for that year.
The last financial year’s figures, released by Parliament during the recess, shows another underspend by £7.8 million and claims climbing to 65,000. The underspending on second homes allowances rises to £3.4m or 26.4 per cent of the budget and on office costs to £3m or 20.9 per cent of the budget.
The authorities say they raised the amount of expenses cash because they did not know how many claims there would be under the improved £10,000-a-year communications allowance. But this does not explain why they might not have cut back on second home allowances – particularly as nearly all these claims were made before the Daily Telegraph revealed the scandal. The figures for the present financial year are bound to be substantially lower.
An analysis to be published by the Institute of Public Policy Research this month points to a failure by both the former acting auditor general, Tim Burr, and Malcolm Jack, Parliament’s accounting officer, to do their jobs correctly in checking and auditing the accounts.
Amyas Morse, the new auditor general, takes an entirely different tack in signing off last year’s accounts. He shows he may have learned the lessons by making it clear that he cannot guarantee that last year’s figures do not contain errors.
Meanwhile, the number of MPs planning to quit the House of Commons is gathering pace with over 100 already indicating they are going to go. Commons authorities are expecting an even bigger rush shortly. They have decided they need to order some 400 new laptops for the next Parliament in anticipation of record resignations.
