RULES ON CLAIMS FOR MORTGAGE INTEREST AND RENTALS BY HON. MEMBERS

That this House recalls the Speaker's Statement on Allowances delivered to the House on 19 May 2009 which stipulated that mortgage interest claims will be capped at £1,250 per month and the same cap will apply to rent and hotel accommodation; notes that minutes of the meeting of the Members Estimate Committee (MEC) held in the Speaker's House at 3.30 pm the following day confirm the imposition of the cap of £1,250 per month on claims for mortgage interest and hotel accommodation but only stipulate a cap on any new rental agreement made after 19 May 2009 on a new property, thereby exempting from the capping limit all rental agreements extant before that date; further notes that the MEC also stipulated that these provisions should apply to any expenditure incurred after 19 May 2009 and any claims received by the Department of Resources after 1 June 2009; questions on what basis such a distinction should have been established between monthly mortgage interest claims and monthly rental instalments prior to 19 May 2009, and how such a decision can be justified to the House; and calls on the Members Estimate Committee to provide clear and unequivocal explanation to the House at the earliest possible date.