Expenses phoneline frustrates MPs
Parliament’s expenses watchdog finds itself under attack yet again, as the latest batch of MPs’ allowances are published.
A Commons motion from Conservative MP David Morris has attacked the “appalling” reduction in the hours operated by the expenses helpline.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority used to take calls from concerned MPs and their staff from 08:00 to 18:00, but this has now been cut to just four hours in the afternoon.
“I just don’t think it’s acceptable that Ipsa is open for business four hours a day. Even by public sector standards this is appalling,” Mr Morris told politics.co.uk.
“The hotline is used by MPs and their staff who, for whatever reason, are having problems with this system.”
Mr Morris’ early day motion on the issue has attracted 11 other signatures, from MPs including the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party chair Lorely Burt and Labour’s former Welsh first minister Alun Michael.
The motion notes that recent freedom of information requests revealed that MPs and their staff spent 70 working days on the telephone to Ipsa’s helpline during the first six months of the current parliament.
Ipsa receives up to 700 phone calls a week and about the same number of emails.
“By looking at when the calls come, most heavily in the afternoon, we decided to weigh our resource there,” a spokesperson said.
“We’ve taken all of our resource off the phone lines in the morning and put additional people on in the afternoons. It’s to try and give MPs a quicker service.”
Previously only about half of all calls were answered within one minute. Now 98% of phone calls are, the spokesperson said.
Mr Morris is critical of the decision, however. He added: “Can you imagine any other organisation where the accounts department doesn’t function before one in the afternoon?”
Wider indications of MPs’ anger at the new system, brought in after the expenses scandal of 2009, have triggered a review of the system which could be shaken up by mid-March.
A consultation begun earlier this year inviting responses on what changes are required closes next week.
