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MPs' expenses due to be published MPs' expenses due to be published
(about 10 hours later)
The expenses of every MP over the past four years are due to be published following weeks of uproar. The expenses of every MP over the past four years are due to be published, after a string of scandals.
Commons authorities say the details, which were to have been released in July after a freedom of Information request, will be online from Thursday. Commons authorities say the details, which were due to have been released in July, will be online from Thursday.
Much of the information has already been published after being leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.Much of the information has already been published after being leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
As a result, some MPs have been forced to stand down, others have lost their jobs and many have had to re-pay money. Expenses disclosures and questions over tax paid on house sales have led to a slew of resignations, most recently that of Treasury Minister Kitty Ussher.
Wrongdoing denied She stepped down on Wednesday amid reports that she had changed the designation of her constituency home for tax purposes, thereby avoiding capital gains tax.
The information will be released soon after reports that Tory MP Brian Binley admitted claiming more than £50,000 in expenses to rent a flat from his own company and Labour's Jim Devine became the fifth MP to be deselected by the party following allegations he charged for work on his home from a non-existent firm. Ms Ussher said she acted within the rules and was quitting to prevent the government from further embarrassment amid the ongoing public anger over expenses.
Both men deny any wrongdoing. When it all goes live, we are hoping it's all going to stand up to what we anticipate will be a huge volume of traffic Commons spokesman class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8106193.stm">Minister quits over expenses
The expenses due to be released are the additional costs allowance, which is meant to reimburse MPs for the costs of staying away from their main home, the incidental expenses provision and the communications allowance. Nearly a dozen MPs have been forced to stand down since the furore over expenses began and many have had to re-pay money, with more than £300,000 having been repaid.
Travel expenses and additional travel costs have already been published. A spokesman for the House of Commons said steps were being taken to prevent the site from crashing under the weight of a massive increase in visitors when the expenses go live - which could be as early as 0600 BST.
All the receipts were being prepared for publication in July after the Commons authorities were ordered to release them by the High Court, under the Freedom of Information Act. He added: "When it all goes live, we are hoping it's all going to stand up to what we anticipate will be a huge volume of traffic."
The Committee of Standards in Public Life is holding an inquiry into MPs' expenses and will recommend changes to allowances rules. Claims made by all 646 MPs since 2004 will be published alphabetically with thousands of receipts made available in a series of PDF files.
The claims will be broken down into three categories, with most attention focused on the additional costs or second homes allowance.
The Telegraph's reports revealed the apparent misuse of this allowance - designed to provide for the cost of members having to stay away from their main home on parliamentary business - by some MPs.
Under the rules, MPs had to nominate a primary home, where they spent most time, and a second home for which they could claim for rent, mortgage interest, furnishings and food up to a maximum of more than £23,000 a year.
The Telegraph reported that some MPs had claimed for items that, while within the rules, were questionable.
Information excluded
The Telegraph's investigation also highlighted the practice of "flipping" - by which some MPs switched the designation of their homes and claimed allowances for several properties over the four year period.
The paper insisted that this information would never have come to light since the official Commons documents will exclude details of MPs address and other items considered sensitive by the parliamentary authorities.
The Commons agreed to blank out certain information last year including MPs' travel patterns, the identity of people making deliveries and providing services to MPs homes and all communications with the Fees Office.
In recent months, MPs have been able to look at the edited material and suggest further exclusions - with any disputes adjudicated by the Members Allowances Committee.
Other information published on Thursday will include the incidental expenses provision for MPs, which pays for office costs, and the communications allowance.
Details of travel expenses and additional travel costs have already been published.
FOI battle
All the receipts were being prepared for publication in July after Parliament was ordered to release them by the High Court, under the Freedom of Information Act but were brought forward in light of the Telegraph expose.
Labour has referred MPs accused of making questionable claims to an internal disciplinary panel, which has barred five MPs from standing at the next election.
The Tories has asked all its MPs to submit their claims to an internal panel for scrutiny, with a handful of MPs either being forced to stand down or choosing to retire.
The expenses furore has led to interim changes to the second homes allowance while the Committee of Standards in Public Life is currently holding an inquiry into expenses and will recommend changes to allowances rules.
Gordon Brown has said oversight of MPs expenses must be handed over to an external regulator as part of a root and branch reform of Parliament.