Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

After the schooling they've had over the last couple of years, MPs are painfully aware that they need to be seen to be sharing the economic pain.

In comments on the post about IPSA below, Turron asked if MPs are cutting their costs in line with the rest of the public sector. Well, here's a press release I've just received from the House of Commons Commission, the administrative body for MPs' half of Parliament...

"The House of Commons Commission is very aware that we are in an era of much tighter financial constraint and it recognises the important role the House must play in responding to the severe budgetary pressures on public services.

The Commission has agreed already to reduce expenditure by at least 17% in real terms by 2014/15*.

Initial savings this financial year amounting to Β£12m from the budget of Β£231m have been announced previously by the Commission but a wider savings programme is underway to identify and achieve the 17% reduction in budget over the longer term. No areas of House spending have been ring-fenced in this process.

The Commission has now concluded that the level of savings demanded by the current financial climate calls for a fundamental review of the services provided by the House. House management will work to identify where and how it can best be re-structured to run most efficiently in future while more effectively achieving its aims. The Commission will take a decision on how best to proceed by the end of the year.

*In December 2009, the Commission announced plans to cut House expenditure by 9% by the end of 2012/13 before the Government had revealed its plans. However the wider public sector is calculating its saving programme over a longer period to 2014/15. The Commission has decided therefore to re-express the target for the House of Commons using the same assumptions as regards inflation and timescale as those used by the wider public sector. This equates to a reduction in expenditure of 17% in real terms by 2014/15.

Details of current areas of savings to be made this financial year can be found "

Meanwhile , who has a private members bill to reform IPSA on the Commons agenda for Friday, has issued a statement emphasising that his proposals will save the taxpayer Β£4m, or 5% of the total expenses bill.

He is asking party leaders to allow the bill to go forward to debate at committee stage this Friday, which can be done by instructing the whips not to object to the bill - and then hoping no individual member does so.

Money quote: "Given the cuts in government expenditure announced this week, this is the right time to look at reducing the cost of MPs and the huge administration costs of the IPSA. I want to start the discussion about cutting the massive waste of tax-payers' money by introducing a simpler, more transparent system that cannot be abused and which costs less than the current system.

"That is what this bill seeks to achieve. It may be too early for this bill. It may fall at the first hurdle, especially given the on-going expenses revelations, but I think we have a responsibility to begin looking at what might save money and improve the current system. I am asking the leaders of the main political parties to avoid making political capital out of this issue and allow it to pass the first stage on Friday, so that the matter can be considered in committee."

Mr Afriyie is one of the few MPs never to have claimed the personal expenses or allowances - he regarded the pre-IPSA system as a minefield which could only result in trouble; an analysis which, to say the least, has been vindicated by events. And he is wealthy enough not to have needed to claim. That, incidentally, is one of the major class divides in the Commons - those MPs who are wealthy enough not to need expenses - and those who're not.

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