Former MPs entitled to £10.4m resettlement grants

[davieG]

From the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8726581.stm

The 218 MPs who were either defeated or stepped down at the general election were entitled to payouts totalling £10.4m, the BBC has learned.

The figures shown to the BBC by the TaxPayers' Alliance reveal the amount in resettlement grants available in addition to pension and other payments.

It is not known how much of the money has been accepted, but the alliance described the figures as "huge sums".

A parliamentary watchdog said it planned to look at future payments.

The grants, nicknamed "golden goodbyes", are paid in addition to any parliamentary pension an MP receives or the winding up payments given to MPs to pay off their staff or the rental on their constituency offices.

The payments are tax free for the first £30,000.

Salary cap

The figures from the TaxPayers' Alliance, a group that campaigns for lower taxes, do not reveal if the former MPs took their entitlements.

Long-serving MPs who are still of working age can receive the equivalent of a year's salary, £64,766, but the payments are reduced when an MP reaches the age of 70.

TaxPayers' Alliance analyst John O'Connell, who compiled the figures, argued that MPs were mistaken if they considered the grants to be similar to redundancy payments.

"It is not redundancy pay, they take the job on a five-year fixed contract and need to be aware it is fixed term," he told File on 4.

Adding that MPs who retire voluntarily also receive the payment, he said: "They get it if they stand down which negates the redundancy argument.

"These are huge sums."

Labour MP Harry Cohen had his resettlement grant stripped because he had breached parliamentary expenses rules, while three other Labour MPs - David Chaytor, Elliott Morley and Jim Devine, who face criminal charges over their expenses claims - have had their grants suspended.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said it had been given access to review resettlement grants under the Constitution and Governance Bill, at the end of the last parliament.

A spokesman said it was currently looking at reforming MPs' expenses but would look at resettlement grants in the future, although there is no timetable of when that will happen.

Another payment for ex-MPs has also come under scrutiny.

SNP MP Angus MacNeil has called for more transparency over the public duty costs allowance paid to former prime ministers after they leave office.

PMs' payout

Former PMs are allowed £109,000 a year for the rest of their life, according to Mr MacNeil, who said: "There is a massive amount going to former prime ministers, we don't know who's getting it and what they get.

"It's time we knew."

Mr MacNeil also told File on 4: "I accept that they have duties and need money but we don't know how it is justified, a side of A4 each year ought not to be too much."

File on 4 asked each of the past three prime ministers - Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Sir John Major - for an interview about this allowance, but none of them was available.

That's the key point - vast numbers of people now work on fixed term contracts both for private and public enterprises and when their time is up they get nothing, in fact it's seen as an efficient working practice - why should our parliamentary system and MPs be treated any differently, lets not forget they also get a pension out of it.

We've had years of cuts and streamlining of enterprises it's about time someone took a great big knife to our political set up and sliced out all the in built perks and fat - let's start at the top have some serious parliamentary down sizing not just in the Civil Service and Local Government.

[skinnydipper]

From the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.u...ics/8726581.stm

That's the key point - vast numbers of people now work on fixed term contracts both for private and public enterprises and when their time is up they get nothing, in fact it's seen as an efficient working practice - why should our parliamentary system and MPs be treated any differently, lets not forget they also get a pension out of it.

We've had years of cuts and streamlining of enterprises it's about time someone took a great big knife to our political set up and sliced out all the in built perks and fat - let's start at the top have some serious parliamentary down sizing not just in the Civil Service and Local Government.

Re-settling the leeches to an outcrop in the middle of the Atlantic would be my preferrred option and at a fraction of the cost too

[Zingari]

Re-settling the leeches to an outcrop in the middle of the Atlantic would be my preferrred option and at a fraction of the cost too

harsh , but fair

George Osborne and the Treasury are to consult the public about spending choices and preparing to ask for our views as to where cuts can be made

No doubt cuts in this area will be one of our choices

[Jon the Hat]

Clearly they should not get this payment if they choose to stand down as an MP. If however they lose an election then they should get something. This is not a normal 5 Year fixed term arrangement. For a start up until the changes proposed by the coalition come into play, we do not have fixed term parliaments. Their employer is not giving deciding whether or not to renew their contract, the voters are.

On another note, if we expect good people to leave their careers to become politicians, we should recognise that they leave positions in the main which are not fixed term, and that at a senior level it takes time to find a new role. We do not want MPs spending their time in parliament lining up their next job, or indeed working at another job when they should be concentrating on their important role.

Big risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water. There should be a review of how much this needs to be, but a years salary is less than most civil servants get for redundancy, and is not a vast amount.

[davieG]

Clearly they should not get this payment if they choose to stand down as an MP. If however they lose an election then they should get something. This is not a normal 5 Year fixed term arrangement. For a start up until the changes proposed by the coalition come into play, we do not have fixed term parliaments. Their employer is not giving deciding whether or not to renew their contract, the voters are.

On another note, if we expect good people to leave their careers to become politicians, we should recognise that they leave positions in the main which are not fixed term, and that at a senior level it takes time to find a new role. We do not want MPs spending their time in parliament lining up their next job, or indeed working at another job when they should be concentrating on their important role.

Big risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water. There should be a review of how much this needs to be, but a years salary is less than most civil servants get for redundancy, and is not a vast amount.

But it is a limited term if somewhat unknown currently. As I said there are thousands of people working on a contract basis many in jobs just as, and in some cases more important and yet as their contract end is in sight have to start looking for a new job, why are MPs treated differently, why do they get a pension, if they want one they should pay into a private scheme like other contracted employees have to.

[FoxyPV]

It's nice to know that if you lose your job or decide to quit that the government will give you a nice sum to help you relocate and plenty of time to find another job without having to worry about bills etc.

I hope they roll this out all over the country.