Truss Piece: Withdraw the £115,000 Ex-PM Allowance

5 Feb 2023

With the release of the 4,000 word piece by Liz Truss in the Sunday Telegraph, the Liberal Democrats are calling for the removal of her £115k a year ex-PM dividend funded by the taxpayer.

Former Prime Ministers are able to claim a sum of money from the taxpayer to fund office costs, under the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA). The ability to access this sum - currently set at £115k a year - lasts for life.

That means that over the next decade, Truss will be able to claim a maximum total of £1.15 million from the taxpayer, presuming the £115k limit stays fixed. That sum of money could fund almost 4,000 ambulance trips or nearly 30,000 GP appointments.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper MP said:

“Liz Truss will go down in history as the Prime Minister who couldn’t last more than 50 days and blew a massive hole in the nation’s budget on the way out.

“Her disastrous reign as Prime Minister left the economy in shambles and the Conservative party is making overstretched taxpayers bear the brunt.

“Allowing Truss to pocket this cash while the British public continue to suffer the consequences of her botched mini-budget, with spiralling bills, mortgage rates and inflation is a slap in the face.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

According to Gov.UK:

“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 costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties. The PDCA is in addition to any constituency office which they may maintain as a Member of Parliament. The PDCA allowance is paid from the Cabinet Office vote and administered by the Cabinet Office Finance Team.

All former Prime Ministers’ are eligible to draw on the PDCA. They cannot claim the allowance if they are serving as Leader of the Opposition.

The PDCA has a financial limit which was originally set to align with the staffing allowance for MPs’ offices. The current limit is set at £115,000 and has remained frozen since 2011. It will remain frozen at this level in 2022-23. The level of the limit will be reviewed by the Prime Minister at the start of a Parliament and annually.”

According to Kings Fund, the average cost of an ambulance trip to A&E is £292 in 2019/20. Presuming the limit stays fixed, over ten years, the maximum amount Liz Truss is able to claim from the taxpayer is £1.15m - equivalent to 3,938 ambulance trips.
The Kings Fund also found that the average cost of a GP appointment in 2020 was £39.23 for the average 9-minute GP appointment. Presuming the limit stays fixed, over ten years, the maximum amount Liz Truss is able to claim from the taxpayer is £1.15m - equivalent to 29314 appointments.