Conclusion on SSRB recommendations
259. The House referred specific SSRB recommendations to this
Committee on 24 January. Most of them have been covered in this
review and some are the subject of specific recommendations. For
completeness, we set out below the Committee's conclusion on each
of the recommendations referred by the House. In each case the
SSRB recommendation is set out first in italics.
Recommendation 17: We recommend that the House agree that the
ceiling for reimbursement of unreceipted expenditure be set at
£50 per member per month.
260. The principle of this recommendation has already been
accepted but the threshold has been set by this Committee at the
lower level of £25 from 1 April and we recommend a further
reduction to zero from 1 April 2009—see paragraphs
6 and 47.
Recommendation 18: We recommend that the House of Commons request
the National Audit Office to audit the expenses of a representative
sample of MPs each year.
261. We support acceptance of the principle of this recommendation
but put forward (in paragraphs 64-71) a more radical approach
on audit.
Recommendation 19: We recommend that the Staffing Allowance
be renamed Staffing Expenditure, and Temporary Secretarial Allowance
be renamed Temporary Secretarial Expenditure.
262. We recommend acceptance of the principle that the vocabulary
used for allowances should be improved to give a clearer impression
of their purpose but consider 'staff salary budget' is more appropriate.
Recommendation 20: We recommend that the Staffing Expenditure
ceiling should increase to allow MPs to employ up to 3.5 full-time
(or equivalent) members of staff.
Recommendation 21: We recommend that the ceiling
on Staffing Expenditure for the equivalent of 3.5 full-time staff
where all those staff are based outside London should be £96,630.
Recommendation 22: We recommend that the ceiling
on Staffing Expenditure for the equivalent of 3.5 full-time staff
should be increased by £1,720 for each full-time equivalent
member of staff based in London, up to a maximum of £102,650
where all staff are based in London.
263. The House itself agreed this recommendation
on 24 January, subject to the decisions of this Committee on timing
and administration. On 10 March, the MEC agreed that the staffing
allowance for 2008-09 should be the figure of £96,630 (recommended
in July 2007 for 2007-08 by the SSRB for staff based outside London)
uprated by 3.7% in accordance with the Average Earnings Index
to £100,205; that this should take effect from April 2008.
In this report, balancing recommendations 22 and 24 together,
we propose no further action on either recommendation.
Recommendation 23: We recommend that office and
'surgery' lease or rental costs should be met in full up to a
maximum area of 800 square feet, this area to be reduced by 100
square feet for each member of an MP's staff who is based on the
parliamentary estate. Before renting or leasing premises an MP
must obtain a certificate from an independent chartered surveyor
stating that the premises are suitable for the purpose and that
the cost is reasonable in relation to typical office premises
in the constituency.
264. We accept this recommendation (see paragraph
130) but envisage that Members who choose not to make use of this
new scheme would continue to claim for constituency office costs
under the Incidental Expenses Provision.
Recommendation 24: We recommend that Incidental
Expenses Provision should be renamed Other Office Expenditure
and that the ceiling be reduced by £2,500 for each member
of an MP's staff with a workstation on the parliamentary estate.
265. For the reasons given in paragraphs 108-110
balancing recommendations 22 and 24 together, we propose no further
action on either recommendation.
Recommendation 25: We recommend that the ceiling
for Other Office Expenditure (before any reduction for staff based
on the parliamentary estate) should be £13,839.
266. For the reasons given in paragraphs 108-110
we do not propose acceptance of this recommendation.
Recommendation 26: We recommend that the Communications
Allowance be renamed Communications Expenditure and be confirmed
at £10,000 a year. It should be uprated in April each year
in line with movement in RPIX.
267. We propose acceptance of the change of name
and basis for uprating the Allowance but, instead of reducing
the IEP, propose a three-year freeze on the level of the Communications
Allowance—see paragraph 142.
Recommendation 27: We recommend that partners
of MPs who are named in the PCPF as sole beneficiaries should
be entitled to the same travel arrangements available to spouses
and civil partners.
268. For the reasons set out in paragraph 170
we do not propose acceptance of this allowance.
Recommendation 28: We recommend that Additional
Costs Allowance should remain at its current rate and should be
renamed Personal Accommodation Expenditure.
269. We have considered several options for the
future of the Additional Costs Allowance and made a recommendation
for change. These options are set out in paragraphs 218-225.
Recommendation 30: We recommend that, with effect
from the general election after next, Resettlement Grant should
be paid at a rate of one month's salary for each year of service
as an MP, up to a maximum of nine months' salary, to MPs who lose
their seats at a general election or whose seats disappear as
a result of boundary changes.
270. We put forward instead a different way of
calculating the Resettlement Grant—see paragraphs 251-253.
Recommendation 31: We recommend that the Winding
Up Allowance be renamed Winding Up Expenditure and that, after
the next general election, the ceiling be calculated as one third
of the relevant annual Staffing Expenditure, plus one third of
the limit on Other Office Expenditure and one third of the actual
annual office rent or lease claimed by each MP concerned.
271. This recommendation follows from other SSRB
proposals and we support it.
