Belfast Telegraph to push for transparency in the Assembly

Local & National

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By David Gordon

The Belfast Telegraph today launches a new campaign to push the case for transparency and accountability within the Assembly and power sharing Executive.

The "Open Stormont" campaign is based on five key proposals, aimed at safeguarding taxpayers' interests in the corridors of power.

These cover such issues as when politicians employ family members on their publicly-funded payrolls, the rental of constituency offices from relatives and secrecy surrounding donations to political parties.

Today's campaign launch follows months of expenses-related controversy at both the Assembly and the House of Commons.

Stormont's rules on allowance claims have been exposed as out of step in a number of areas with Westminster regulations.

And the Commons itself is still well behind the Scottish Parliament on the extent of the information it releases on payments to politicians.

The "Open Stormont" campaign aims to modernise Assembly practices, for the long-term benefit of its members as well as the taxpaying public.

Belfast Telegraph Editor Martin Lindsay said: "Regulations enforced at Westminster and the Scottish Parliament must be introduced into our Assembly.

"In the long run, our campaign will assist MLAs as the public will know exactly how their money is spent. It will improve public confidence.

"Politicians should think long and hard about how they spend taxpayers' money."

The five "Open Stormont" proposals are:

A review of the Assembly's current approach to publishing MLA pay and expenses, focusing on the much more detailed disclosures issued by the Scottish Parliament.

That MLAs should publicly declare in the register of interests details of family members on their payrolls. This reform has been favoured by the Assembly's Standards and Privileges Committee, but there are concerns that it will not take effect until 2009.

The Belfast Telegraph sees no reason why it should not be introduced immediately on a voluntary basis by the parties, pending a formal rule change.

A review of constituency office rental arrangements, with independent rental valuations for offices that have been rented from family members and political parties.

This review should also focus on phasing out the practice of allowing MLAs to claim rental expenses for premises owned by relatives - bringing Stormont into line with the House of Commons.

A pledge from all the Stormont parties that the secrecy surrounding their donations will finally end in 2010, with no further slippage on the target date.

A commitment by all the Assembly parties that there will be no dilution of the Freedom of Information Act.

The campaign will be seeking the views of Ministers, party leaders and other opinion formers on these proposals, and it is hoped that a timely debate will be generated.

Just as importantly, we are inviting our readers to have their say.

The case for openness is based on the belief that taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent.

But it also acts as a safeguard against potential misuse of public funds, and is therefore in the best interests of both public bodies and politicians.