The Green Book - A guide to Members’ allowances

Further to my last post containing extracts from the "The Code of Conduct for members of Parliament" I thought that some extracts from "The Green Book - A guide to Members allowances" was called for... (my emphasis - my comments)

"1.3 Fundamental principles

In July 1995, the House agreed to adopt the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament – this can be found on the internet here – which includes a number of general principles of personal conduct. These are based on concepts of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
The broad principles set out below are derived from the Code of Conduct and underpin the allowance regime. When making claims against parliamentary allowances, Members must adhere to these principles.
The principles are:
Claims should be above reproach and must reflect actual usage of the resources being claimed.
This should be borne in mind at all times when examining MPs expenses.


Claims must only be made for expenditure that it was necessary for a Member to incur to ensure that he or she could properly perform his or her parliamentary duties.
Bar-B-Qs, David Miliband's pot plants, etc.


Allowances are reimbursed only for the purpose of a Member carrying out his or her parliamentary duties. Claims cannot relate to party political activity of any sort, nor must any claim provide a benefit to a party political organisation.


It is not permissible for a Member to claim under any parliamentary allowance for anything that the Member is claiming from any other source.


Members must ensure that claims do not give rise to, or give the appearance of giving rise to, an improper personal financial benefit to themselves or anyone else.
Quoting from The Telegraph: "Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, changed his official “second home” designation four times in four years. Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, also switched his second home, which allowed him to improve extensively his family home in Derbyshire before buying a London town house also funded by the taxpayer. Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, Caroline Flint, the Minister for Europe, and Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary, also bought flats — or the freehold on a property they already owned — and claimed stamp duty and other moving costs. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, claimed thousands of pounds to improve his constituency home after he had announced his resignation as an MP. He sold the property for a profit of £136,000." Well to my eye these "give rise to, or give the appearance of giving rise to, an improper personal financial benefit to themselves or anyone else"


Members are committed to openness about what expenditure has been incurred and for what purposes.
The actions taken by Speaker Martin, Gordon Brown and others in trying to restrict what information is to be made public and then today in getting the Police involved in looking for the leaker rather than investigating the possible frauds seems to go against the principle of "openness".


Individual Members take personal responsibility for all expenses incurred, for making claims and for keeping records, even if the administration of claims is delegated by them to others.
So excuses about mistakes being made by clerical staff are not allowable excuses, bear that in mind when listening to the squirming Members.


The requirement of ensuring value for money is central in claiming for accommodation, goods or services – Members should avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious.
New heating systems because the water is too hot, multiple flat screen TVs in one house, etc. etc. etc.


Claims must be supported by documentary evidence, except where the House has agreed that such evidence is not necessary.
All claims for just under the £250 disclosure limit should be considered suspect."

Later I will look into more of "The Green Book"...