Watchdog probes ministers' expenses

The husband and wife MPs, who are close allies of Gordon Brown, are being probed over their use of the second homes allowance.

Between them, the Schools Secretary and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury claimed nearly £32,000 in allowances to fund their London home last year.

The office of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, John Lyon, confirmed that he had accepted a complaint over the arrangement. It was submitted earlier this year by Tory MP Malcolm Moss.

Questions have been raised over whether the ministers' London property is, in fact, their second home. They have another house in Yorkshire, where the MPs have neighbouring constituencies.

The Additional Costs Allowance (ACA), under which they have claimed for their London residence, is not to be used for MPs' primary residence.

A spokesman for the couple said: "Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper have done everything in accordance with advice from the Fees Office, which has confirmed they have acted within the rules."

It is understood that Mr Balls' and Ms Cooper's claims for the most recent financial year, 2007/8, totalled £24,438. The figures will not be officially published until later this year.

The disclosure of the investigation, which is thought to have been running since February, came as proposed reforms to MPs' expenses were set out by a senior Commons committee.

The Members' Estimate Committee, chaired by Commons Speaker Michael Martin, urged the abolition of the "John Lewis list", which details household goods and furniture MPs can claim under the ACA. It also called for closer scrutiny of claims.