MPs approve expenses review date

7 July 2011 Last updated at 20:06 GMT Ipsa was created by the 2009 Parliamentary Standards Act following the expenses scandal MPs have agreed changes to a committee which will seek to change their independently run expenses scheme.

The old Members' Allowances committee - which has been dormant since the new scheme began - is being renamed the Members' Expenses Committee.

It will review the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, which set up the new expenses body, by 31 December.

After the expenses scandal, all parties agreed that the old system of self-regulation of expenses must end.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has been running the new expenses scheme since the general election.

'Needs amendment'

But many MPs have expressed anger at the way the new system has been run complaining it is too bureaucratic, too complex and time consuming and that they are having to fund some of their expenses out of their own pockets.

Although Ipsa is independent - MPs have decided to review the legislation which set it up, with a view to making changes.

Shadow Commons deputy leader Helen Jones said the scheme "clearly needs amendment": "It is imperative that we get to a sensible position which both maintains confidence in the scheme and does not use up too much time of honourable members, who are, I think, fast becoming the highest paid data-inputting clerks in the country."

A National Audit Office report out on Thursday says Ipsa is safeguarding public money - but should do more to address the amount of time MPs and their staff were spending inputting claims and the "labour intensive nature of certain elements of the claims process".

Deputy Commons leader David Heath said the government was "keen that the committee is set up without any more unnecessary delay and gets on with the important work the House has tasked it with."

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Greek MPs approve austerity plan

30 June 2011 Last updated at 14:18 GMT The BBC's Jon Sopel says tour buses have returned to Syntagma Square

Greece's parliament has passed a second vote on its austerity programme, which was needed to secure the country further financial support.

The vote approved putting into practice the tax hikes, pay cuts, privatisations and public sector redundancies approved in principle on Wednesday.

It was a retreat from the "grave scenario of default", the EU said.

Public reaction has been very hostile, and the debate has been accompanied by strikes and violent protest.

After hours of discussing the measures, MPs started voting shortly after 1600 (1300 GMT); an hour later, PM George Papandreou had secured enough votes to push the bill through.

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said German banks and insurers had agreed to participate in a plan to continue lending to Greece, following a similar decision by French lenders.

Mr Schaeuble said German institutions would contribute 3.2bn euros ($4.6bn, ?2.9bn) to the plan.

Calm returns

Mr Papandreou's ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) has a slim parliamentary majority, with 154 out of 300 deputies. Thursday's bill was passed by 155 votes to 136.

Continue reading the main story Debate starts at 0930 local time (0630 GMT)Vote itself not before 1400Roll-call vote with verbal response by MPsPossible additional votes on individual articlesGovernment has a majority of eight over all other partiesCabinet to meet after the voteSome Socialist MPs had said they would vote against individual clauses such as an increase in heating oil levy and a rise in the minimum tax threshold.

Clashes continued on Syntagma (Constitution) Square outside parliament overnight, as police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths.

Calm now appears to have returned and the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says the city's street-cleaning crews have come out in force removing debris from two days of battles in the square.

Police had restricted access to the city centre to prevent demonstrators from obstructing members of parliament heading to vote on the new law.

Some Athenians have accused the police of heavy-handed tactics, and newspapers have railed against what one called "an orgy of state terror", our correspondent says.

Some accused the police of over-using tear gas.

Scores of people were treated for injuries and severe breathing problems.

Government confident

Government officials said they were confident that those who supported them in Wednesday's vote, when the package was approved in principle by 155 votes to 138, would also vote for implementation, known as enabling legislation.

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All that has happened is that a default has been avoided at a moment when Europe's banks are still vulnerable”

End Quote Gavin Hewitt BBC Europe editor Its measures include:

The setting up of a privatisation agencyPreparation for privatisation of state-owned real estateTax increasesCurbs on public sector recruitmentSocial security regulations

The opposition New Democracy party, which voted against the government on Wednesday, has said that it will support some elements of the bill involving privatisation and spending cuts.

"We will do what we can to support the government," said MP Nikos Dendias, a former justice minister, quoted by Reuters news agency. "We will vote for two chapters of the bill today."

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Total Greek debt

Greece is about to get a second bail-out from the EU, aimed at helping pay its debts until 2014. It also has to agree more cuts as part of the deal.

The economy

The Greek economy is in dire straits. Retail sales have fallen 18% since 2008 and manufacturing output has dropped 30% in the same period.

Working population

Greeks retire on average at 61. Tax evasion is widespread. Until 2010, public sector workers received two months extra pay a year in bonuses.

EU demands

To meet EU demands, Greece must sell 50bn euros-worth of public assets by 2014, equal to 20% of GDP. Public sector pay is being cut 15%.BACK {current} of {total} NEXT Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has offered some concessions on tax, one of the most contentious parts of the package.

The vote will enable Greece to receive the latest tranche of a 110bn-euro (?98bn) loan in time instead of defaulting.

But analysts say the real challenge will come after the loan is secured, and there is concern about whether the austerity measures can be effectively implemented in the face of so much public hostility.

Wednesday's vote prompted a furious response from protesters in Athens.

Sporadic violent clashes were continuing in the capital in the early hours of Thursday between masked protesters - armed with sticks and stones - and riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades.

Despite the unrest, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy welcomed the result as a "vote of national responsibility" paving the way for a second aid package.

Continue reading the main story June 29: Parliament approves new austerity package June 30: MPs vote on details of implementing packageJuly 3: EU will sign off latest bail-out payment to Greece - 12bn euros - if both votes are passedJuly 15: Without the 12bn euros, Greece will defaultThe package of tax rises and budget cuts - worth about 28bn euros over five years - had been championed by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Had it been rejected, Greece could have run out of money within weeks. The EU and the International Monetary Fund have demanded that the measures are implemented before they extend further loans to Greece.

Greek unions are angry that the government's austerity programme will impose taxes on those earning the minimum wage, following months of other cuts that have seen unemployment rise to more than 16%.

Once passed, European officials will start to finalise the details of a second bail-out, worth an estimated 120bn euros, designed to help Greece pay its debts until the end of 2014.

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MPs set to approve Scotland Bill

21 June 2011 Last updated at 08:22 GMT The Scotland Bill will devolve a series of financial and other powers to Holyrood Legislation to boost the powers of the Scottish Parliament is expected to be passed by MPs later.

The UK government said the Scotland Bill would give Holyrood ministers ?12bn of financial powers.

If backed in the Commons at its third reading, the legislation will be sent to the House of Lords.

It has been described as the largest single transfer of fiscal power from Westminster in the history of the United Kingdom.

But the Scottish government said the bill did not go far enough and it called for further responsibility to be devolved.

Under the legislation, Holyrood will get more powers, including the ability to set rates of income tax, and control over drink-drive, speeding and airgun legislation.

Since the SNP's election victory in May, which gave them an overall majority, UK ministers have brought forward amendments to the bill to accelerate new borrowing powers to the Scottish Parliament.

But the Scottish government said greater tax and borrowing powers must be devolved, to give Scotland the economic levers it needs to boost recovery and growth.

Bill 'consensus'

First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC Radio's Today programme: "My dream, my ambition would be that MPs would be debating a bill to acknowledge independence for Scotland after a positive vote by the Scottish people in that direction.

"What they're debating today is a devolution bill that's an extension of powers over some areas, but not, crucially, enough discretion and economic powers which would enable us to get something done about the sluggish economic recovery that Scotland, and indeed the rest of the United Kingdom, are undergoing at the present moment."

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: "We have announced new financial powers that will be provided to Holyrood and we will continue to wait for further detailed submissions from the Scottish government.

"Consensus has been the hallmark of the Scotland Bill - if we maintain the support of the House of Commons for the bill today, then we will be a big step closer to improving devolution and making it more accountable."

Some Tory MPs will also use the Commons debate on the Scotland Bill to raise constitutional issues - one has tabled an amendment calling for a referendum on independence to be held within four months.

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