First details of Kelly report on expenses emerge

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Early details of Christopher Kelly’s report on the expenses system emerged last night, ahead of full publication of the report next Wednesday.

The report’s recommendations will inlude:

* MPs should no longer be allowed to employ family members, for example as researchers or secretaries, either in their Westminster offices or their consituencies.

* MPs will have to rent, not buy, their second homes if they wish to receive taxpayer support.

* MPs living within a 60-minute commuting radius will not be able to claim for a second home at all, extending the law currently applied to inner London members.

Chair of the public administration committe Tony Wright last night praised the proposals, saying they are radical and will need to be implemented in full. John Mann said Parliament would have to accept the recommendations “lock, stock and barrell; we can’t pick which parts of the report we like”.

The new rules will likely be applied over the four year period of the next Parliament.

Read my interview with Tony Wright during the midst of the expenses storm earlier this year.