Taxi Driver Online

The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)

October 16, 2006 Monday

HEADLINE: Openness cuts the bill at Holyrood

BYLINE: Auslan Cramb

THE secrecy over expenses in the House of Commons stands in direct contrast to the openness of Holyrood in Scotland where all claims are published in line with the Freedom of Information Act.

Earlier this month a Scottish newspaper showed that greater transparency in Scotland's expenses system has led to a fall in claims by MSPs from pounds 9.35 million in 2004-05 to pounds 2.7 million in the first three quarters of 2005-06.

The Freedom of Information Act in Scotland is enforced with greater vigour by a separate commissioner who ordered full disclosure of all expense receipts.

Transparency quickly exposed how LibDem MSP Keith Raffan had claimed for driving around Scotland when, in fact, he was in Germany and the Isle of Man. He claimed more than pounds 108,000 in expenses in 2003/04, of which pounds 41,000 was spent on travel in and around his constituency. He has since resigned on health grounds and was ordered to pay back nearly pounds 1,800 for claims made in error. The new laws also cost David McLetchie, the former Scottish Tory leader, his job after he claimed taxi fares for trips unrelated to official business.

The latest expenses information, for the third quarter of 2005/06, was released on the Holyrood website and includes hundreds of pages of forms and receipts.

The data is so detailed that it reveals, for example, that one Lib Dem MSP submitted a claim for 42p for a pint of milk, and one Labour MSP claimed pounds 159 for tea and coffee in his constituency office.
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