MEMBERS' ALLOWANCES AND ACCOMMODATION COSTS

That this House notes that the purpose of the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) is supposed to be to allow hon. Members to cover the costs of living or staying in London, be it in a rented or owned home or in hotels; notes that there is nothing in the current ACA system to ensure that this allowance is used predominantly for accommodation costs, be they rent, mortgage or hotel costs; believes that hon. Members who do not have rent or mortgage payments or hotel costs to meet should not get the same allowance as those who do; proposes therefore ring-fencing the majority of the allowance for accommodation costs only, be they rent, mortgage payments, or hotel costs; further proposes a separate allowance to cover the rest of current ACA spent, but that this would as a result be a much lower sum than the current allowance, effectively splitting the ACA/Second Home allowance into two smaller budgets; and recommends further that hon. Members who have mortgaged properties would no longer be eligible for the rent/mortgage allowance once their mortgage has been repaid.