Article On Politicians Expense Claims
Being Open & Accountable With Public Money
Being Open And Accountable
Let me say at the outset, that I do not possess a moat, a tennis court, a duck pond, and have never asked for or expected the taxpayer to pay the costs of my furniture or my groceries!
The revelations about MPs expenses have obviously dominated everything else in politics over the last few weeks. The daily stories about some individual MPs have caused anger and astonishment. I believe that had the House of Commons followed the lead of the former Presiding Officer in the Scottish Parliament, George Reid, they would not be in their current predicament.
George made the decision in 2003 that MSPs expenses should be published on the website - made public every few months. So, all claims by MSPs, for the costs of running our office, and paying our staff are clearly shown and available on the web. So are our costs of travel and Edinburgh accommodation. Details are available here:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/MSPAllowances/searchGuidance.htm
I am happy to answer any questions that constituents have regarding them either at one of my seven monthly surgeries or by email or by letter.
We should not be complacent in Holyrood about our expenses. It is right that we continue to look carefully at our own parliamentary expenses system. The recession has and continues to cause real financial hardship - especially perhaps to senior citizens whose income came from savings, and who now suffer from the low interest rates. MSPs and Ministers are in a privileged position.
That was why all the Scottish Government Ministers decided to forgo the salary increases recently proposed , and instead agreed a pay freeze. We are well paid.
In Holyrood, many of the MSPs from the Highlands and Islands have over the last ten years purchased a property in Edinburgh, to use when in Edinburgh at the meetings of the Holyrood Parliament, and with the benefit of the Edinburgh accommodation allowance. I think that most people believe that such an allowance is reasonable - as the alternatives are not really practical. Living out of a suitcase in hotel rooms midweek for thirty six weeks each year for a decade is not workable.
In Holyrood we have already agreed to end the scheme by which mortgage interest is paid on Edinburgh accommodation. From 2011, no MSP will be entitled to claim any loan interest on a flat used for staying in Edinburgh. It will be permissible to rent and claim an allowance for that, but not to claim mortgage interest.
Had my late wife Margaret and I so chosen, we could have used both of our MSPs allowances - of about £10,000 each - to service a massive loan to purchase a substantial luxury property in Edinburgh, in some leafy suburb. We did not for one moment think of doing so. It would have been entirely within the rules of the scheme - but against both its spirit and purpose. Instead we purchase a small two bedroom flat near our workplace - Holyrood.
It may not be a fashionable or popular thing to say, but I believe that most MSPs and MPs are not only hard working but do not abuse the systems that are in place. That said, the public anger and revulsion at the revelations of some MPs is such that only a UK general election offers the chance for a Westminster clean up.
Fergus Ewing MSP
(This is an edited version of an Article that first appeared in the Inverness Courier on the 26th May 2009)
