Legislation relating to MPs' claims for business costs and expenses

Request

  1. when was the law passed allowing MPs to have their household food bills paid for by the public purse and is there a cap on the amount allowed, and were the tax paying public asked.

  2. when was a law passed allowing MPs to have their private council tax paid by the public purse and who by? and were the tax paying public asked

  3. how do they justify claiming for these household expenses, on what grounds,? when they are paid a wage to do the job, and no other company offers such perks.


Response

In response to the first part of your request, I can advise that, under the Expenses Scheme launched by IPSA on 7 May 2010, claims are not allowed for household food bills. Before launching this Scheme, IPSA consulted the public in January 2010 and the results of that public consultation helped form part of the final scheme.

Turning to the second and third parts of your request I can confirm that under the Scheme, claims may be made by non-London area MPs only for accommodation expenses necessarily incurred on overnight accommodation which is required for the performance of their parliamentary duties. Accommodation costs include rent and associated costs including council tax for one location only. No expenses may be claimed by an MP for their private residence.

Ref:
FOI2011-007
Disclosure:
31 January 2011
Categories:
NOT IPSA'S REMIT
Exemptions Applied:
None