An academic lawyer and former TV host has been nominated as the chairman of the body responsible for implementing the shake-up of MPs’ expenses.

Sir Ian Kennedy was selected by a committee chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow to lead the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa).

Ipsa will have the task of consulting on the reforms proposed in yesterday’s report on parliamentary expenses by Sir Christopher Kelly before deciding how they will be implemented.

It will also take over responsibility for overseeing and approving future expenses claims, and will set MPs’ pay, pensions and allowances.

An expert on the law and ethics of health, Sir Ian is Emeritus Professor at University College London and chaired the Healthcare Commission from 2003-09.

He previously chaired an inquiry into children’s heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary and in the 1980s hosted several editions of Channel 4’s discussion programme After Dark.

He will receive a salary of up to £100,000 a year in the new post – more than £30,000 in excess of a backbench MP’s basic pay. Mr Bercow’s announcement of his pay package caused some uproar.

After announcing his nomination in a statement to the Commons, Mr Bercow said the appointment marked “another milestone on the way to establishing a new and independent system governing MPs’ allowances that can command public confidence”.

The Speaker added: “We have been committed to swift action in setting up this new system and I am pleased that we have been able to select such a strong figure in Sir Ian to lead the authority without delay.

“His arrival, and the selection of board members, which will take place in the near future, show that work on setting up that new system is gathering pace.”

MPs have had no role in Sir Ian’s selection, though they will eventually be asked to approve the committee’s decision before he is confirmed in the post by the Queen.

Ipsa is a new body established by the Government’s Parliamentary Standards Act, which was rushed on to the statute book this summer in a bid to draw a line under the furore over expenses and restore the reputation of Westminster. Its establishment means MPs will no longer have any role in voting for their own pay and expenses.

Under the Act, Ipsa’s chairman and board members are selected through an independent and open competition similar to that used to appoint members of the Electoral Commission.

Candidates are considered by a panel chaired by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.

The Speaker’s preferred candidate for each post is then put forward for approval to the Speaker’s Committee of senior MPs of all parties.

Members of the Speaker’s Committee include Leader of the Commons Harriet Harman, shadow leader of the Commons Sir George Young, Liberal Democrat Nick Harvey, Standards and Privileges Committee chairman David Curry, senior Labour MPs Sir Stuart Bell and Don Touhig and former Labour whip Liz Blackman.

Sir Ian will earn £700 a day in a post expected to occupy him for two or three days a week, said a spokeswoman for the Speaker’s Committee.

The £100,000 figure announced by Mr Bercow is a maximum cap on the Ipsa chairman’s salary.

Sir Ian said he would start work “immediately” and had already met Ipsa officials to give them instructions on how he wants the process to go forward.

The authority will set out its proposals for a new “fair

and effective” expenses system in a consultation paper to be approved by its board in early December and, after a brief period for consultation, the new scheme will be in place early next spring, he said.

Sir Ian said the Kelly Report offered “a clear set of recommendations” and it was now for Ipsa to “take up the reins”.

He made clear that the authority would be ready to hear MPs’ concerns during a “wide but not time-consuming” consultation.

However, he cautioned them: “Let me be clear, this authority is independent –

of Parliament, Government and of any other particular interest – and we will be independent in drawing up the proposals and in implementing them.”

Sir Ian added: “Public faith in Parliament has been severely hit by the events of the last few months and I have no illusions about the scale of the task ahead. It will take time and effort to earn back the trust that has been lost.

“MPs must be able to fulfil their important public work, both representing their constituents and fulfilling their parliamentary duties. We must set out a framework which allows them to do so and which reflects the concerns of the public.

“The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority must now establish a new system of MPs’ allowances. It must be fair and effective, and also respond to the public’s concerns.

“This work is already under way, and I and my colleagues will ensure that it is taken forward with rigour, pace and objectivity, listening all the way to the public.”

Key Recommendations

  • An independent regulator to be given power over Westminster for the first time, setting MPs’ pay levels and overseeing pensions as well as dealing with expenses.

  • MP preventing from playing property ladder using public funds. An end to mortgage interest payments in the next five years, forcing MPs to rent or stay in hotels in London in future if they want to qualify for accommodation costs.

  • Any future capital gains in the value of accommodation purchased with the help of public funds to be surrendered to the exchequer.

  • Goodbye moat, goodbye John Lewis list. No expenses for cleaning, gardening or furnishing. Payments for council tax, water, fuel, phones, contents insurance and removal at the beginning and end of a tenancy of second “rented” home allowed.

  • No more flipping. Designation of main and second homes to be determined according to an objective test, enforced by the independent regulator. MPs sharing accommodation as partners can only claim allowance once, plus one-third.

  • No second-home expenses for MPs within a “reasonable” commuting distance of Westminster.

  • Ban on MPs employing members of their own families as staff on public funds. Currently employed family members can continue for the life of one further parliament or five years, whichever is the longer.

  • The “golden handshake” resettlement grant to be retained at a rate of up to nine months’ pay for MPs who lose their seats at a General Election, as the result of deselection or because of boundary changes. MPs who voluntarily stand down will only receive eight weeks’ pay.

  • Communications allowance worth £10,000 a year to be abolished, meaning less flyers in the mail from MPs

  • Receipts to be required for all claims.

  • MPs to meet the cost of normal commuting journeys themselves. Payments for longer journeys only if they are on genuine parliamentary duties and for family members travelling between constituency and London.

  • Annual review of maximum claimable amounts, and comprehensive review of the system at least once in every parliament.

  • Standards and privileges committee to consider stripping MPs of resettlement grant if they seriously breach the code of conduct. Independent regulator to be given power to compel MPs to co-operate, require repayments and impose fines.

  • All candidates to publish, at nomination, a register of interests, including the existence of other paid jobs and whether they intend to continue them if elected.

  • Ban on dual mandate Westminster MPs simultaneously sitting in a devolved legislature. Aimed at 16 Northern Ireland Assembly members who are MPs but could affect Holyrood if Alex Salmond were to continue as MP for Banff and Buchan.