MEMBERS of parliament are using their taxpayer-funded expense accounts to buy iPods, plasma screen televisions and even, in one case, a fish tank, insiders have alleged.

Finance administrators have been approving a wide array of executive gadgets despite widespread public concern about abuses of the parliamentary expenses system. MPs routinely claim thousands of pounds a year without having to produce receipts or other evidence that they have made any purchases.

MPs have also remortgaged their homes to release thousands of pounds and then used their allowances to cover the repayments.

The names of MPs who have received the extravagant items have not been revealed but one well-placed insider said: “There has been a successful claim for a very expensive, large plasma television and for a fish tank. After discussion among officials in the fees office, both were waved through.

“Also, in the run-up to Christmas last year, a lot of MPs suddenly started claiming for iPods. The system really is outrageous.”

An official review into MPs’ pay, pensions and allowances, due to report to the prime minister later this month, is now expected to call for a tightening of the expenses rules.

Despite heavy lobbying from senior MPs, including Jack Straw, the Commons leader, the senior salaries review board (SSRB) is expected to call for a new “structure” for the payment of expenses to ensure that the necessary safeguards are in place.

This weekend John Baker, chairman of the SSRB, declined to comment on his forthcoming recommendations. But he said: “We read about them [abuses] with interest and ask ourselves whether the structure of expenses is appropriate. We have received evidence on the topic.”

The row over the £87m annual expenses bill erupted last month when MPs backed new legislation to exclude themselves from the Freedom of Information Act. MPs are currently blocking attempts from the information commissioner to force them to disclose full details of their taxpayer-funded expenses.

Mark Hunter, a Liberal Democrat MP opposed to the new legislation, said: “It is public money and it should be accounted for. I don’t believe MPs ought to be exempt under freedom of information and I thought the vote was a shameful day. This is precisely the sort of thing that gives MPs a bad name.”

An MP can spend up to £21,634 on the cost of maintaining a second home, either in London or in his or her constituency. This money can be used to pay almost all costs associated with running the home including furnishings, groceries, mortgage, utility bills and council tax.

A further £20,000 a year is available for paying the costs involved in running an office. Plasma screens, iPods and fish tanks could come out of either of these allowances. MPs can pick up a staffing allowance of up to £84,081 a year as well.

Last week The Sunday Times revealed that Derek Conway, a senior Conservative MP, paid his wife Colette £3,271 a month and his son Frederick £981. Frederick is a full-time geography student at Newcastle University.

Several other MPs also employ family members, including David Cameron, the Tory leader, who has appointed his wife’s sister, Alice Sheffield, as his correspondence secretary.

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