MPs facing demands to pay back some of their expenses will have their salaries and pensions docked if they try to avoid repayment, the Speaker said yesterday.
The decision was relayed in a letter from John Bercow after the Members’ Estimates Committee, which he chairs, finalised details of an appeals process.
Dozens of Members face requests to return money after Sir Thomas Legg scrutinised claims made over the past few years. The total bill could reach several hundred thousand pounds.
Kenneth Clarke, the Shadow Business Secretary, was able to overturn a claim from Sir Thomas after proving that there had been a mistake.
The committee has arranged for a former Lord Justice of Appeal to review the arguments of those who feel they have been wrongly treated. Sir Paul Kennedy, a barrister and the Interception of Communications Commissioner, will take written submissions with rulings on repayment published next month.
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The committee made clear that the scope for appeals would be tightly limited, with MPs being asked to provide “special reasons” why they should not pay. Notice of an appeal must be submitted by December 14 and the substance of the appeal a week later.
Sir Thomas’s report on the findings of his audit will not be published until after any appeals have been dealt with.
The committee said that it would seek a resolution of the House authorising the recovery of any repayments demanded by Sir Thomas but not yet made.
“The MEC expects that Members will voluntarily repay any sums found to have been overclaimed but it will propose that, if necessary, the money be recovered by setting off sums owed against future payments of allowances and/or salary,” it said.
“Before this happens, however, the committee believes MPs should be given an opportunity to show in an independent process any special reasons why it would not be fair or equitable in their particular case to require them to make the repayments.”
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Sir Stuart Bell, the Middlesbrough Labour MP and a committee member, said: “The message is clear. After the appeals procedure, there will be a House resolution that all Members must pay back the sums demanded. There can be no backsliding. Those who do not pay back will have the sums deducted from their salaries or allowances.”
The committee ruling comes before Sir Thomas’s final round of repayment demand letters, which will be issued on Monday.
The appeals procedure is intended to be complete by January 15, to be followed soon after by the House resolution, which will be put to a vote in the Commons.
MPs are braced for more embarrassment a week today when their expenses claims from the past year are published. The publication will cover claims made during the 2008-09 financial year and the first quarter of 2009-10.