Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to scrutinise claims for Public Duty Costs Allowance.

The Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA) was introduced to assist former Prime Ministers still active in public life. Payments are made only to meet the actual cost of continuing to fulfil public duties. The PDCA was exceptionally extended to the former Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Sir Nick Clegg from 2015-2019. No other former Deputy Prime Ministers claim the allowance.

The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary administrative costs arising from their special position in public life for example managing an office (staffing and administration costs); handling correspondence as a former Prime Minister; and support with visits and similar activities. The level of the limit is reviewed by the Prime Minister at the start of a Parliament and annually. Invoices are submitted to the Cabinet Office to cover relevant office and salary costs. PDCA claims are also subject to an annual audit by the National Audit Office.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a comprehensive record of claims made against the PDCA going back to 1991 when the allowance was established. However, I would refer the noble Lord to a written answer provided to him on 6 December 2022 by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, then Minister of State, (reference HL3763) which provides details of historical claims of PDCA.

Details of PDCA claims have been published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) since 2013-14. The written answer referred to above includes details of claims up to the financial year 2021-22. Details of claims for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 are set out in Table 1 below, and can also be found in the relevant ARAs.

Table 1

In relation to the data provided in Table 1, it should be noted that The Rt Hon Lord David Cameron stopped receiving the allowance when he was appointed the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 13 November 2023. The Rt Hon Boris Johnson was eligible to claim the Public Duty Cost Allowance, however no claims were received in 2022 to 2023. Due to 2022 to 2023 being the first year of set up, the Cabinet Office has agreed to reimburse these costs in 2023 to 2024. All future office costs are to be claimed in-year with claims received by 31 March. 2022 to 2023 office costs amounted to £67,083.

Details of the financial year 2024/25 will be published in the next Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.