Government asks MP watchdog to review expenses rules
Ministers will ask a Parliamentary watchdog to review some expenses claims after a Labour MP was able to claim £900 from the taxpayer in “pet rent”.
Security minister Dan Jarvis insisted his colleague Taiwo Owatemi, a Government whip and the MP for Coventry North West, followed the rules when she made the expenses claim in August last year.
But the minister said the “rules can’t be right”, adding the government would urge the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) to change them.
Owatemi made the claim after the landlord at her second home in London issued the extra charge in order to let the MP’s dog stay at the property, according to The Times newspaper.
Parliamentary authorities paid the expenses claim, which is not in breach of the rules governing MPs’ expenses.
Asked about the expenses claim, Jarvis told broadcaster LBC: “I wouldn’t do that, haven’t done that. Therefore, I think it can’t be right that the rules allow any Member of Parliament to do that.
“That is why the government will be making representations to Ipsa, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, to ask them to look very carefully at the detail of this particular rule.
“It’s important to say that the MP in question, she hasn’t done anything wrong in that she’s followed the rules as they are at the moment, but we don’t think that those rules can be right and that’s why the government will flag it with Ipsa.”
It was put to Jarvis by LBC that a Labour MP claiming an expense for pet rent as the government cut benefits was not a good look.
He replied: “Yeah. That is why the government will raising concerns about this particular rule and we will pick that up with Ipsa.”
Owatemi has frequently posted about her dog, a cockapoo named Bella, on social media in the past.
She is also a supporter of the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and other pet-related charities.
MPs can claim back rent on accommodation in London if they have a constituency outside of the capital.
Ipsa told The Times it agreed to fund the pet rent surcharge for Owatemi, but “gave incorrect advice as to how it should be described”.
“We have apologised directly to the MP and are sorry for any confusion,” the parliamentary watchdog added.
By David Lynch, PA Political Correspondent