Cabinet couple cleared on claims

The couple are both in the cabinet

Husband and wife cabinet ministers Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper have been cleared over their use of MPs' homes expenses by a Parliamentary watchdog.

The West Yorkshire MPs say their London home is their second home, for which they are entitled to claim expenses.

Tory MP Malcolm Moss had complained they were "maximising" their claims.

Standards Commissioner John Lyon said there was no evidence they had broken the rules. He adds MPs should consider changes to allowances for joint claims.

MPs can claim up to £24,000 a year each to pay for costs associated with running a second home, under the additional costs allowance.

'Reasonable decisions'

Mr Moss made the complaint following a story in the Mail on Sunday which accused the couple of exploiting the rules to buy an expensive home and get their children into a "top state school".

He asked for a ruling on whether "in this instance the spirit of the rules or even the letter of the rules has been breached given that these MPs have said that their main home is in Yorkshire when it appears that their children go to school in London".

In a report, the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee said: "The commissioner has dismissed the complaint, having concluded, in the light of his investigation, that Ms Cooper and Mr Balls made reasonable decisions on the basis of their own circumstances in declaring their property in Castleford to be their main home."

Malcolm Moss has been open from the start about the fact that he had complained 'because the press was full of stories on the Tory side of expenses Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper

In the report it says the couple saw it as a "matter of fact that their main home was in Castleford" as it was where they returned after constituency surgeries, relaxed and ate Sunday lunch.

"They effectively had no choice but for their children to go to school in London because they were both required to be in London Monday to Thursday when Parliament was sitting and they wanted to keep the family together," the report said.

But Mr Lyon said it was difficult to determine which home MPs should claim as their main home. Mr Moss had suggested it was where children went to school, Mr Balls and Ms Cooper had suggested "among other things that where they ate Sunday lunch is significant".

He said that the "normal criteria" that the main home should be where an MP spends more nights than anywhere else should remain the "reasonable general test".

He also points out that an MPs' committee's inquiry into expenses had held off ruling on whether married MPs should be able to claim the maximum amount of expenses each - Mr Balls and Ms Cooper had not claimed the full amount each.

He said he did not think "two can live as cheaply as one" but was also not convinced that MPs who share accommodation should be able to claim as much as an MP living alone.

"Accordingly, I recommend that the House consider abating members' individual additional costs allowances where, for any reason, they share accommodation for which they make claims against that allowance," he said.

In a joint statement, Mr Balls and Ms Cooper welcomed the result and accused Mr Moss of seeking to make political capital out of the complaint.

They said: "Malcolm Moss has been open from the start about the fact that he had complained 'because the press was full of stories on the Tory side of expenses'."

The allowance was at the centre of much controversy earlier in the year as some costs had been governed by the so-called "John Lewis list", in which Commons officials judged the cost of a claim against similar items at the department store.

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