Holyrood will also pay for Westminster's gravy train

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 10:07

UP UNTIL now, the Scottish Parliament's expenses system has been held up as the model for Westminster to follow if it wants to stamp out all those excessive claims which have given MPs a bad name.

While Westminster colleagues were able to pocket 400 a month for "food" with no questions asked, MSPs have always had to produce receipts to back up all their claims.

But this week's recommendations from Sir Christopher Kelly for a complete overhaul of the Commons allowances scheme could lead to further changes in the Holyrood expenses rules as well.

MSPs are likely in future to be banned from employing family members.

The knock-on effects of the Kelly report could also include slashing the severance pay of half a year's salary which MSPs receive.

It could force MSPs who have bought homes in Edinburgh with help from the taxpayer to hand over a proportion of the profit they make when they sell the property.

And it could stop MSPs claiming expenses for driving or taking taxis between their homes and the parliament.

The Scottish Parliament has already been through an independent review of its allowances scheme – the Langlands report, published in March last year.

However, Sir Neil McIntosh, former chief executive of Strathclyde Regional Council and chief returning officer for the 1997 devolution referendum, was appointed in June to carry out an independent examination of Holyrood's expenses system, specifically taking into account whatever recommendations Kelly came up with and also proposals from a similar review of Welsh Assembly expenses.

McIntosh – who is expected to report by the end of the year – must decide whether last year's Langlands recommendations went far enough for the Scottish Parliament or whether he wants to pick up any of Kelly's proposals.

The 28 MSPs who employ family members are already required to register the fact.

Strong arguments have been advanced in favour of politicians being allowed to continue employing relatives, particularly their wives. The arrangement is credited with keeping marriages together, giving good value for money from the extra hours worked and ensuring a close and confidential working relationship.

But none of that seemed to impress Kelly, who recommends employment of relatives should be banned from now on, with existing arrangements allowed to continue for up to five years.

The Welsh Assembly has introduced a ban on any new appointment of family members, but says relatives already employed can continue indefinitely.

McIntosh will have to decide which path to follow for Holyrood.

Following the Langlands review, MSPs will no longer be allowed to claim public funds to help pay the mortgage on their second homes. From 2011, MSPs from far-flung constituencies will only be able to claim for rent or hotel bills when they have to stay in Edinburgh.

Kelly is now recommending Westminster follows suit – but he goes further and says an appropriate portion of any capital gains made on second homes between now and the scheme being phased out should be repaid to the taxpayer.

Such a move was rejected here on the grounds it would be too difficult to calculate. But Kelly says: "Although it might involve some administrative complexity, it should be entirely feasible."

Kelly also recommends the use of a commercial agency to procure and maintain rented properties for MPs. Payment of rent and utility bills could be made direct without going through the hands of the MPs themselves.

Since the number of MSPs likely to be renting is so much smaller in Edinburgh, it may well be McIntosh decides there is no need for such a system here.

However, one of the biggest changes for MSPs' day-to-day lives, if McIntosh decides to follow Kelly's lead, is the plan to stop politicians being subsidised by the taxpayer to get themselves to work.

Kelly says MPs should be able to claim travel costs between their constituencies and London, but recommends travel costs from their London home to the Commons should be met from their own pocket.

If McIntosh were to take the same view, it would mean MSPs were no longer able to claim bus journeys, mileage or taxi fares for getting into parliament each day.

MSPs could also be hit if the cut in severance payments recommended by Kelly is applied to Holyrood. Kelly says any MP standing down voluntarily should lose the current grant of up to 65,000 and receive eight weeks's pay instead.

The Scottish Parliament's resettlement scheme currently allows six months' salary, whether MSPs stand down or are defeated in an election.

Westminster politicians have already reacted to the Kelly measures by arguing they should get a pay rise to compensate.

Under current rules, MSPs' salaries are fixed at 87.5 per cent of MPs' pay. It would be ironic if Holyrood politicians ended up richer as a result of the Westminster expenses scandal.