Names of MPs who had not repaid loans by 31 March 2015

Request

I was looking at your website before the May 2015 General Election and saw that some 9 MPs, none standing down, still owed the taxpayer funded loans.

I saw this in the minutes of the IPSA board meeting of April 2015.  I would like to know the following:

  • Who are or were the MPs?

  • What is the value of the loans outstanding by each MP at this point in time?

  • Has legal started against any MP for the recovery of the outstanding sums; if so which MP by name?

  • Did legal action start, and the MPs paid back money - if so which MP by name?

  • What are the rules governing these loans being made to MPs?


Response

IPSA holds the information that you request.

Minutes of IPSA’s Board meetings are published on our website. The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 8 April 2015 note that:

On 20 January, almost 250 MPs owed IPSA over £750,000 in loans to be repaid by 31 March. On 1 April, only nine MPs had not paid IPSA back, collectively owing £32,700. This is a great achievement by the team who have been actively pursuing repayment from the MPs.

Of the nine outstanding MPs, four had previously given IPSA a commitment that they would repay on time. Two others have arrangements in place to pay back over an extended period of time. None of the nine MPs is standing down.

Under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’), MPs can apply to IPSA for a loan to cover any deposit payable at the commencement of a tenancy. This may be for accommodation or a constituency office. You can find the rules regarding accommodation deposit loans at Chapter Four of the Scheme, and the rules regarding office deposit loans at Chapter Six of the Scheme.

Further, MPs may apply for an interest-free advance loan of up to £4,000. This is to assist with cash-flow and help MPs cover any costs they incur that are allowed under the Scheme and are exclusively in furtherance of their parliamentary functions. Under the rules in operation during the 2010 Parliament, those MPs who opted to apply for an advance loan had to repay the loans in full by the end of the Parliament at the latest (being the date after dissolution, 31 March 2015). Under the current rules, only MPs elected on 7 May 2015 may apply may apply for an advance loan, and the loan is repayable in full by 31 March 2016 or, if the MP leaves Parliament before this date, any outstanding amount will be repayable in full on the date the MP leaves office.

Please find, at Annex A, details of the nine MPs who had not repaid by 1 April 2015 (as noted in the published Board minutes), and the amounts they owe as at 6 July 2015. In some individual circumstances, we agreed to extend the repayment deadline.

All MPs repaid amounts, or agreed repayment schedules, before court proceedings were initiated.

Annex A

MP NameAmount outstanding at 6 July 2015
Debbie Abrahams£0.00
George Galloway£0.00
Ian Paisley£0.00
Mark Menzies[1]£1,695.96
Neil Carmichael£0.00
Simon Danczuk£0.00
Simon Reevell£0.00
Stephen Williams£0.00
Stewart Jackson£0.00

[1] Mr Menzies was incorrectly informed by IPSA that he did not have an outstanding loan, causing him to miss the repayment deadline. When this error was identified, Mr Menzies agreed to repay the remaining amount as part of a scheduled repayment plan.

Ref:
CAS-21762
Disclosure:
20 July 2015
Categories:
DEBT
Exemptions Applied:
None