|
Rt Hon Andrew Mackay
6. Letter to Rt Hon Andrew Mackay
from the Commissioner, 5 November 2009
I would welcome your help on a complaint I have received
from Mr Michael Goggins about the identification of your main
home for the purposes of your claims against the Additional Costs
Allowance.
I attach a copy of the relevant parts of letters
of 23 and 30 October from the complainant, together with the relevant
press cuttings appended. I enclose also a copy of the Registrar's
letter of 28 October to which the complainant refers.[183]
In essence, the complaint is that you have wrongly
identified your main home for the purposes of claims against the
Additional Costs Allowance, contrary to the rules of the House.
I take the period of the complaint to cover the financial years
from 2004-05 to 2008-09 inclusive. You will see that the complainant
has also raised a complaint against Ms Julie Kirkbride MP.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament provides
in paragraph 14 as follows:
"Members shall at all times ensure that their
use of expenses, allowances, facilities and services provided
from the public purse is strictly in accordance with the rules
laid down on these matters, and that they observe any limits placed
by the House on the use of such expenses, allowances, facilities
and services."
The rules in relation to the Additional Costs Allowance
which appear to be relevant to the main period covered by this
complaint are set out in Section 3 of the Green Book published
in July 2006.
In his introduction to that edition of the Green
Book, the Speaker wrote:
"Members themselves are responsible for ensuring
that their use of allowances is above reproach. They should seek
advice in cases of doubt and read the Green Book with care. In
cases of doubt or difficulty about any aspect of the allowances
or how they can be used, please contact the Department of Finance
and Administration. The Members Estimate Committee, which I chair,
has recently restated the Department's authority to interpret
and enforce these rules."
The rules in relation to the Additional Costs Allowance
are set out in Section 3. The scope of the allowance is provided
in Section 3.1.1 as follows:
"The Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) reimburses
Members of Parliament for expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily
incurred when staying overnight away from their main UK residence
(referred to below as their main home) for the purpose of performing
Parliamentary duties. This excludes expenses that have been incurred
for purely personal or political purposes."
Eligibility is set out in Section 3.2.1 as follows:
"You can claim ACA if:
a You have stayed overnight in the UK away from
your only or main home, and
b This was for the purpose of performing your
Parliamentary duties, and
c You have necessarily incurred additional costs
in so doing, and
d You represent a constituency in outer London
or outside London."
The principles include the following in Sections
3.3.1 and 3.3.2:
"You must ensure that arrangements for your
ACA claims are above reproach and that there can be no grounds
for a suggestion of misuse of public money. Members should bear
in mind the need to obtain value for money from accommodation,
goods or services funded from the allowances.
"You must avoid any arrangement which may
give rise to an accusation that you are, or someone close to you
is, obtaining an immediate benefit or subsidy from public funds
or that public money is being diverted for the benefit of a political
organisation.
Section 3.4.1 deals with the location of overnight
stays as follows:
"If your main home is in the constituency,
you can claim ACA for overnight stays in London—or in another
part of the constituency if reasonably necessary in view of the
distance from your only or main home. Please contact the Department
of Finance and Administration for information on such arrangements.
"If your main home is in London you can claim
for overnight stays in the constituency.
"If your main home is neither in London nor
the constituency you can choose in which of these areas to claim
ACA.
"If on your journey to London or your main
home you cannot practicably reach your destination on the same
day as your day of departure, you may claim the cost of an overnight
stay en route to your destination. Any such arrangements must
be cleared in advance with the Department of Finance and Administration.
"See section 3.10.1. for definition of your
main home."
Section 3.5.3 provides as follows:
"You must inform the Department if you are
claiming ACA in respect of a property which you share with another
Member."
Section 3.11.1 provides the following definitions:
"Main home
When you enter Parliament we will ask you to give
the address of your main UK home on form ACA1 for the purposes
of ACA and travel entitlements. Members are expected to locate
their main homes in the UK. It is your responsibility to tell
us if your main home changes. This will remain your main home
unless you tell us otherwise.
"The location of your main home will normally
be a matter of fact. If you have more than one home, your main
home will normally be the one where you spend more nights than
any other. If there is any doubt about which is your main home,
please consult the Department of Finance and Administration.
"Constituency
For the purpose of the ACA, overnight stays within
20 miles of your constituency boundary are regarded as overnight
stays within your constituency.
"London
Similarly, for the purposes of the ACA, overnight
stays within 20 miles of the Palace of Westminster are deemed
to be overnight stays within London."
Similar provisions were set out in the Green Book
for June 2003, except that the principles set out in paragraphs
3.3.1 and 3.3.2 of the July 2006 Green Book were not included,
nor were the references to the boundary provisions for a constituency
and London home as provided in paragraph 3.11.1 of the July 2006
Green Book.
I would welcome your comments on this complaint in
the light of this summary of the rules. In particular, it would
be helpful to know:
1. Your arrangements for claiming the ACA on your
second home from 2004-05 to 2008-09 inclusive—including
the location of your main and second home and the dates of each
designation.
2. The purchase costs of each home and the details
of any mortgages which you hold or have held on your first and
second homes since 2004-05.
3. The nature of the accommodation provided by your
main and second homes and the reason why you identified the property
in question as your main home.
4. The number of nights you spent in your designated
main home in each financial year from 2004-05 to 2008-09 inclusive;
the number of nights you spent in the home on which you claimed
against your ACA; and the number of nights you have spent elsewhere.
It would be helpful to have any documentary evidence, including
diaries or travel records, which you have used to prepare these
figures. I appreciate that these figures are likely to be estimates,
but it would be helpful if you could give the best estimates you
can, setting out the information on which they are based.
5. Whether, and if so when, you informed the Department
that you were claiming ACA in respect of a property which you
shared with another Member, namely Ms Julie Kirkbride MP.
6. The size of your ACA claims in each financial
year from 2004-05 to 2008-09 inclusive, together with the main
categories under which you claimed, identifying your mortgage
interest claims and what proportion of your total mortgage they
represent.
7. Whether at any time you consulted the then Department
of Finance and Administration about your arrangements. If so,
it would be helpful to have details of that consultation, including
any documentary evidence you may have.
Any other points you may wish to make to help me
with this inquiry would, of course, be most welcome.
I attach a note which sets out the procedure I follow.
I am writing to the complainant to let him know that I have accepted
his complaint and am writing to you about it.
It would be most helpful if you could let me have
a response to this letter within the next three weeks. If there
is any difficulty with this or you would like a word about any
other matter, please get in touch with me at the House.
I would be very grateful for your help on this matter.
5 November 2009
183 The letters of 23 and 28 October are not included
in the written evidence - see WE 1 Back
| 
