Purpose of travel

The appellant was an MP who travelled from Dundee to Glasgow to attend a party meeting. He then flew to Heathrow and completed his journey into London by train. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) disallowed his claim for the cost of the whole journey.

Under chapter 9 of the IPSA scheme MPs can claim for travel that is “necessarily incurred in the performance of… parliamentary functions”. This includes the cost of “journeys between any point in the constituency… and a Westminster or London area home”.

The appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal.

Before the hearing the IPSA accepted that the expense relating to the second leg of the journey – Glasgow to London – should be allowable.

The tribunal ruled that the travel from Dundee to Glasgow formed a journey in its own right. The MP had a specific reason for going to Glasgow and that...