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Members' Salaries, Pensions and Allowances

I will say only this to the hon. Gentleman: I have always taken the view that my job as a Member of Parliament is a full-time one. I choose to undertake my role in that way in order to give my constituents the attention that I feel I should. The Leader of the House did not refer to allowances apart from the increase in the staffing allowance, which I also support. However, she made no other reference to the SSRB proposals on allowances. In a sense, it was right that she did not, because the matter is being referred to the MEC, but I wanted to comment on it. I know that it is difficult—we are all different Members with different sorts of constituency, and our experience is different. It is difficult to use the experience of just one Member to look at the issue, but I wonder to what extent the SSRB understands the issues relating to allowances. It is important for the MEC to consider carefully the implications of the proposals. For example, on the issue of incidental expenses provision and office accommodation, I can see the SSRB's argument that Members who keep staff in the House effectively get rent-free accommodation, whereas Members who have staff in constituency offices have to pay the rent for those offices. It says that it will attempt to balance that situation out, but it also proposes penalising MPs who have staff on the House estate. That will not create a level playing field. Moreover, the SSRB talks about an average rent probably being about £6,000 a year, and says how it should be possible to use that sum to rent an office of 800 sq ft. I had a very quick look at the website of one estate agent in Maidenhead yesterday and discovered that a 600 sq ft office would cost £12,000 per annum, not £6,000. The MEC has to consider that issue carefully.