Peers scrutineer needing scrutinising?

MPs' expenses: Peers' watchdog filed overseas hotel bill

The House of Lords official who oversees its discredited allowances regime, Michael Pownall, has claimed expenses for luxury hotels and tailoring. The Clerk of the Parliaments billed the public £1,500 for a week at the Hilton hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, papers released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

Mr Pownall, who is paid about £170,000 a year, has been criticised for being lenient towards

peers accused of misusing their allowances.

Michael Pownall is Clerk of the Parliaments

The 60-year-old civil servant, who has a pension pot worth about £2 million, is in charge of the Lords’ finances despite having no specialist accounting qualifications.(Daily Telegraph)