Bolting the stable door after the horse has resigned

so after he finally resigned, Speaker Michael Martin returned to Parliament just long enough to read out some tough new measures he had negotiated on with the leaders of all parties. From Hansard:

This afternoon I convened a meeting of party leaders—both major and minor parties—and members of the House of Commons Commission to make decisions on the operation of parliamentary allowances pending the recommendations of Sir Christopher Kelly’s Committee on Standards in Public Life. The Chairman of the Committee on Members’ Allowances was also present to advise us.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life will come forward with long-term reforms to the current allowances system. All parties are now committed to implementing its recommendations as a whole, subject to the formal agreement of this House, provided that these reforms meet the tests of increased transparency and accountability and reduced cost for the taxpayer. We have today agreed a robust set of interim measures which will take effect at once and do not pre-empt any more substantial changes to be put forward by the Kelly committee.

Let’s see what those messages are shall we? My comments in italics.

1. Second homes: there will be no more claims for such items as furniture, household goods, capital improvements, gardening, cleaning and stamp duty.
2. The following only should be claimable: rent, including ground rent; hotel accommodation; overnight subsistence; mortgage interest; council tax; service charges; utility bills, including gas, water, electricity, oil, telephone calls and line rental; and insurance—buildings and contents. Which leaves all the running costs of a second home still to claim for — wish I could do that.
3. Designation of second homes: no changes to be made to designation of second homes in the years 2009–10, with a transparent appeal procedure for exceptional cases. Good, but there’s a sting in the tail with that “transparent appeal procedure”.
4. Capital gains tax: Members selling any property must be completely open with the tax authorities about whether they have claimed additional costs allowance on that property as a second home and are liable for capital gains tax. You would think this was done already.
5. Members should make a declaration in respect of any property on which they claim for expenditure that it is not—and will never be—their main residence for capital gains tax purposes. Whether such a declaration has been made will be made public. You would think this was done already.
6. Couples: Members who are married or living together as partners must nominate the same main home, and will be limited to claiming a maximum of one person’s accommodation allowance between them. You would think this was done alrea — never mind.
7. Mortgages: all those Members claiming reimbursement must confirm that the mortgage continues, that the payments are for interest only, and the amount claimed is accurate. D-uh. The fact that several members have actually been caught doing this says enough about both the greed of your average member and how lax the controls were.
8. Mortgage interest claims will be capped at £1,250 per month. In the view of the meeting—and subject to the recommendations of the Kelly committee—this maximum figure should be reduced in the longer term. The same cap will apply to rent and hotel accommodation. christ. and that’s just interest; we’re paying much less on our whole mortgage.
9. Staffing: we confirmed the enforcement of deposit of staff contracts and the registration of any relatives employed. Again something that should’ve been done much earlier and something which you wonder is going to do much good.
10. While the Kelly committee recommendations are awaited, there will be no specific changes to other allowances. The Department of Resources is instructed to tighten the administration of all claims and apply a clear test of “reasonableness”. If there is any doubt about the eligibility of a claim, it will be refused and there will be no appeal. They’ll still be able to claim that 400 quid in food allowances then, subject to an as of yet unknown test of eligibility. Colour me unimpressed..
11. In future, all authorised payments will be published online at transaction level on a quarterly basis by the Department of Resources. Good, but needs to be done already.
12. All past claims under the former additional costs allowance over the past four years will be examined. This will be carried out by a team with external management; the external manager will be appointed after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General. All necessary resources will be made available. The team will look at claims in relation to the rules which existed at that time, and will take account of any issues which arise from that examination which cause them to question the original judgment. Four years takes us back to the last parliamentary election, which is reasonable. Much will depend on who will look at them; having an external manager for the task does mean the end of self-reuglation however (not that Parliament has shown itself capable of that).

Speaking of self regulation, the final part of the Speaker’s speech said that this was indeed to end:

The meeting also received a paper from the Prime Minister, which was endorsed by the other party leaders, calling for a fundamental reform of allowances—moving from self-regulation to regulation by an independent body. The Government will consult widely on this proposal. Further to this, the Leader of the House will be making a statement tomorrow, which will allow the House a full opportunity to ask questions, and Members to air their views on the decisions we have made and the proposals for the future.

This is all still just damage control, a set of measures that is the minimum anybody with common sense would’ve had in place already. If Parliament thinks that with the resignation of the speaker and these new measures their troubles have ended, they’re wrong. I hate to say it, but David Cameron was right that a new election is needed soon. This won’t cleanse Parliament either, but is a necessary first step. What needs to happen is a cultural change in Parliament, which has bigger troubles than just dodgy expense claims. Parliament needs to return to its primary function as overseer of the government and prime source of legislation.