The John Lewis List was the name given to the list of expenses that Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom could claim before 2010, after which the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was set up to administer MPs' business expenses. The list was so called because it was based on the prices of items from the John Lewis store — because it was highly rated by Which? magazine. [1]
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi) were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is a public body in the United Kingdom created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, largely as a response to the parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009. It establishes and monitors the expenses scheme for Members of the House of Commons, and is responsible for paying their salaries and expenses. Following revisions to the Parliamentary Standards Act in April 2010, IPSA was also given responsibility for setting the level of MPs' salaries.
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The John Lewis list was used by House of Commons officials to determine whether an expense claim item submitted by an MP was within reasonable cost. MPs who represented a constituency outside central London could each claim up to £23,000 a year towards the cost of running their second homes.
The House of Commons, officially the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster. Owing to shortage of space, its office accommodation extends into Portcullis House.
The pound sterling, commonly known as the pound and less commonly referred to as sterling, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have currencies called the pound.
'The John Lewis List' has earned its place in history as a moniker for the expenses scandal, which was revealed in 2009 after a Freedom of Information request brought to light the extent of the abuse of the guidelines by a number of MPs. Despite being refused various claims by the now-defunct Fees Office staff, some MPs circumnavigated the process and were permitted by senior officials to bypass the checks put in place, leading to the reputational downfall and distrust of MPs.
