Expenses supervision often costs more than claims

Summary

As identified in ‘Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’ (HC 1426), money claimed by politicians in over a third of cases was less than the amount spent to process them by the independent body responsible.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) established an expenses system in May 2010 and overall in 2010-11, 38% of claims submitted were for less than the average cost of IPSA’s administration costs.

The IPSA was established in the wake of the 2009 crisis in public confidence on MPs' expenses. IPSA established itself quickly and introduced a functioning expenses system on time. Since then, IPSA has also been paying the salaries of MPs and their staff. Expenses have been paid within the rules, and MPs have been reimbursed accurately.

The report from the Committee of Public Accounts examines the first year of implementation of the MPs' expenses scheme, and proposals for improving service levels in the future.

In 2010-11, IPSA paid out over £118 million in total, comprising £98.6 million in salaries for MPs and their staff, and £19.5 million in MPs' expenses. IPSA assesses that 99.7% of all claims made by MPs are within the rules it has set. But its expenses scheme is expensive to administer and is not yet demonstrating value for money.

The Committee highlighted two key issues for the IPSA to address:

public confidence - IPSA should make clearer public statements about approved claims being wholly within the rules; and
salaries should be separated from true expenses.

The Committee is also concerned about the lack of clear, easily accessible guidance for MPs and their staff, and the cumbersome nature of some processes, such as payment card reconciliation.

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