Most MPs can claim up Crunch EU referendum vote looms ...
Speaker under increased pressure ... to £23,000 a year towards the cost of a second home using the additional costs allowance (ACA).

The Commons has been ordered to publish details of 14 MPs' claims under Freedom of Information laws. Sources say all claims may be published by December.

Earlier it published a list of maximum prices allowed per item under the ACA, including £10,000 for a new kitchen.

Last month Commons authorities lost a Freedom of Information case and were told to publish details of claims under the ACA by 14 prominent MPs, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell.

Grounds for appeal

MPs who represent a constituency outside central London can each claim up to £23,000 a year towards the cost of running their second homes.

Their total claims for the year are already published, but the Commons had been resisting publishing details of exactly what was spent, arguing it could intrude on MPs' privacy.

But it has been ordered to produce a detailed breakdown, including receipts and bills where they exist, for 14 MPs.

The BBC has learned that Commons authorities have been advised there are no legal grounds to appeal against the information tribunal's decision.

It is likely the Commons authorities will be flooded with Freedom of Information requests for details of other MPs' claims and the BBC has learned that senior MPs from all sides believe it would be better to publish all claims by the end of the year.

'John Lewis list'

The Commons Members Estimate Committee, which is conducting its own review of MPs' expenses, looks set to recommend that claims made by all MPs over the last three years be published.

MPs can claim ACA to cover the costs of staying overnight away from their main home, including rent, hotel bills and mortgage interest payments.

They can also claim for items like televisions, beds, carpets and refurbishment of their properties, as well as submitting claims of up to £400 a month for food.

A previous rule that they could claim up to £250 per item without receipts is to be scaled down to £25 from 1 April, as part of the Members Estimate Committee's review.

Earlier the so-called "John Lewis list", used by Commons clerks as a guide to maximum prices MPs can claim per item, was published after another Freedom of Information request.

It showed MPs were allowed to claim up to £10,000 to install a new kitchen, up to £6,335 for a new bathroom and £750 for a television or stereo.

Asked about the list earlier, Labour MP Stuart Bell, who sits on the Commons Members Estimate Committee, told the BBC: "We accept the outrage of the public, we accept their concern.

"That's why the speaker has called for a root and branch reform of all these expenses in such a way that MPs can live in their second home outside of their constituency and they can meet the public criteria of transparency of straight forward dealing.

"And we're going to do that, that's exactly what we're going to do"

(BBC)

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