MPs are honest now, says expenses chief as he reveals £116,000 of rejected claims
Sir Ian Kennedy of Ipsa says the 1,574 wrong claims were the result of error, not exploitation of the new system
The head of the parliamentary expenses watchdog last night defended the embattled expenses regime after being forced to publish details of £116,000 of claims that had been erroneously made by MPs.
Sir Ian Kennedy, chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), said there was "bound to be some error" in the new system.
He insisted that the vast majority of the 1,574 claims turned down since the election were the result of "teething problems" rather than MPs attempting to exploit the system, as had been the case under the previous discredited regime that scandalised Westminster last year.
Ipsa was forced to disclose a list of the rejected claims under the Freedom of Information Act ahead of the first publication today of all expenses claimed between May and August. The authority had previously argued that the rejected items should not be made public until the new system had settled down.
Most of the rejected claims are for office bills and travel costs but they include £338 for a paper shredder, £1,057 for advertising and £1,085 for "contingencies''. The names of MPs making the claims have been removed from the list.
Kennedy said: "It's our assessment that MPs are being thoughtful and careful in the use of the system. Where we've queried a claim or haven't paid it, it's been the result of a misunderstanding or innocent error – for example, accidental submission of duplicate claims or attaching the wrong paperwork to the wrong claim.
"We had decided not to publish in the first batch claims which were not paid for the very reason that there was bound to be error made as the system was bedding down and people were getting used to it – nobody would expect it to be perfect immediately.
"It was set up in very short order with very little lead-in time. There were bound to be teething problems.
"As it happens our administrative errors amounted to 0.5% of all claims, 99.5% were handled correctly."
He also defended the decision not to publish full receipts for all claims today, arguing that it would cost £1m a year to do so and the benefit would be "limited".
Ipsa has faced intense criticisms from MPs, with claims of inadequate services and a system which left many members struggling financially while awaiting repayment. Ipsa said MPs have been rude and aggressive to its staff. MPs will today debate a motion calling for radical reform of the system. It is signed by senior backbenchers of all three main parties.
About 7% of claims made were denied, but some of those were after mistakes by Ipsa and not the MPs. There were 160 successful appeals against Ipsa refusals.
Labour MP John Mann, who complained about the old expenses system for several years, said that Ipsa should fully disclose all details of claims: "It's misguided to do anything else. We should have nothing to hide now. Our constituents deserve to know what we're doing with public money. If you can't defend it, don't spend it."
The first of three ex-MPs to face criminal trials for their expense claims, David Chaytor, is due in court on Monday.
Information commissioner Christopher Graham backed Ipsa's publication stance, including the decision not to publish individual receipts for financial reasons, saying that people could make FOI requests for individual receipts which Ipsa could then choose to redact the names on.
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