MPs expenses: Labours Ann and Alan Keen ordered to repay £1,500

1124AM GMT eleven March 2010

Alan and Ann Keen Photo UPPA

The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee found the integrate had been wrong to keep claiming parliamentary losses allowances even though they had usually one fit to be inhabited home.

But it pronounced the order crack was ""significantly mitigated"" since the agreement was certified by Commons officials, and they had not been perplexing to profit.

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The cabinet pronounced ""We interpretation that Mr and Mrs Keen were in crack of the manners of the House since for a duration of 4 months they claimed allowances for a second home when they usually had one home accessible to them.

""This crack is significantly mitigated in the perspective by the capitulation since by the Department of Resources, by the miss of any justification that Mr and Mrs Keen dictated to gain for themselves a personal benefit, and by really formidable resources over their control.""

Standards Commissioner John Lyon done transparent that he regarded the crack of the manners as "serious", and involving "significant open funds". He referred to that Mr and Mrs Keen should compensate behind 4 months value of their claims - a little �5,678.

However, the cabinet of MPs took the surprising step of conflicting with his commentary and slicing the repayment, insisting that "in the well-developed resources of this box we take a some-more kindly view".

Renovations at the couple"s home in Mrs Keen"s subdivision of Brentford and Isleworth, a short invert from parliament, proposed in May 2008.

However, following disputes with builders, the work stalled and the residence was boarded up in December.

The MPs lived full-time in their Westminster skill for the subsequent eleven months, but one after an additional to appropriate it as their second home and explain expenses.

The incident became open last June, when it emerged that the internal legislature were melancholy to repossess the skill since it was derelict.

Within days the residence was assigned by squatters protesting opposite the approach the span were removing taxpayers" money.

According to the report, Mr and Mrs Keen did ask the Commons Department of Resources for recommendation on the agreement in May last year, and were told that the "exceptional circumstances" meant they were still entitled to allowances.

But Mr Lyon insisted eleven months was "too long" for them to have pretty kept claiming.

"While this is a have a difference of judgment, my visualisation is that by Jun 2009 they had been out of their Brentford home for as well prolonged for it to have one after an additional to be deliberate their main home for stipend purposes.

"They had by afterwards been out of the skill for 7 months and the work had nonetheless to re-start.

"The attainment of the squatters was an additional critical setback, but by afterwards the in accord with space had in my perspective run out."

He went on "My end is that Mr and Mrs Keen were in crack of the manners of the House in stability to have claims on parliamentary output for their executive London prosaic when their home in Brentford was uninhabitable from Jun 2009 to Oct 2009.

"This was because, in my judgment, the manners need that a Member"s home contingency be somewhere where they can stay overnight and that, carrying authorised a in accord with duration for adjusting to the construction complaint that strike them late in 2008, Mr and Mrs Keen one after an additional to be incompetent to stay overnight in their Brentford skill during that period."