'Drained' expenses official leaves job

A senior official has left his job overseeing the new MPs' expenses system, saying he needs a break "for the sake of my health and sanity".

Nigel Gooding's departure as operations director of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority comes after reports of furious rows with MPs who claim the new system has left them as much as 20,000 out of pocket.

He confirmed he left his post three months early but denied he had been hounded out by MPs.

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"I have left the job for the sake of my health and sanity," he said. "I was given the option of doing another three months with Ipsa but I felt I was just too drained to carry on.

"I have decided to take a break that I desperately need."

Some MPs are known to have protested in forthright terms over the way the new system – introduced after last year's expenses scandal – has been working.

Ipsa agreed to give MPs 4,000 advances after some complained they were being forced to go arrange overdrafts to pay for office equipment.

After Ipsa officials had borne the brunt of MPs' anger for the first few days of the new Parliament, a sign was put in the new MPs' reception centre asking them to respect staff.

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Mr Gooding confirmed that the new expenses office was "a challenging working environment", but added: "I spent years as an amateur football referee. I have been called a lot worse on the football pitch than I was at Westminster. I am looking forward to relaxing for a few weeks and watching the World Cup."

Labour MP Paul Farrelly wrote to Mr Gooding two weeks ago, denouncing the operation of the expenses system as "prehistoric, amateurish, self-defeating and bureaucracy gone mad".

He said: "The transition from the old system has been really poorly managed and administered."

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