Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA) is an allowance that ex-Prime Ministers can claim for towards the cost of maintaining their activities in public life.
We have a rapidly increasing number of ex-Prime Ministers. Three of them continue to sit as MPs. While Theresa May claims only a part of the ex-Prime Minister’s allowance, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are entitled to claim up to £115,000 a year for as long as they say they are doing public duties, which may be for the rest of their lives. This is in addition to MPs’ office costs allowance, which is subject to some public scrutiny, unlike the ex-Prime Ministers’ allowance.
They are also able to earn from speeches, books and newspaper articles. Is it not time that we had a proper review of the Public Duty Costs Allowance, such as reduce it for sitting MPs or made it for a fixed period only?