Fresh team will be hired to check MPs’ expenses

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The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has decided not to employ any of the senior officials of the House of Commons Fees Office.

The office has been criticised for failing to challenge claims by MPs. Only about 30 of its junior staff are being transferred tothe authority, which takes over the handling of expenses and parliamentary salaries in spring.

A source said: "The 30 are involved in fairly mundane processing and paperwork rather than key decisions. When it comes to senior managers, IPSA is going to have a completely new team untainted by the expenses scandals."

Fees Office staff have faced allegations that they turned a blind eye to abuses of taxpayers' money.

In one case, Conservative MP Stephen Crabb claimed an official advised him he was not claiming enough. He decided to "flip" his designated second home from his London flat to his family property in Wales, and claimed for mortgage interest of £1,325 a month.

A string of Cabinet and shadow cabinet ministers have defended claims on the grounds they were approved. Those waved through included a claim for mock-Tudor beams on John Prescott's house.

Tory MP Andrew Mackay, criticised for receiving a second home allowance even though he only had one home, insists he told the Fees Office what he was doing and was given approval to carry on.

The changes at the office will mean that Andrew Walker, the director of resources who is on £130,000 a year, will see a reduction in the size of his department of about 10 per cent.