**Prosecutors are due to reveal whether they intend to bring criminal charges against six MPs and peers over their expenses claims.**The statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions at 1100 GMT follows a police probe into six parliamentarians.
Police handed files on the six, whose names are unconfirmed, to the Crown Prosecution Service late last year.
It comes a day after 370 MPs were told to repay more than £1.1m related to second home expense claims since 2004.
The CPS decision will mark a new phase in the saga of parliamentary expenses which has dogged Parliament for the past 10 months and, party leaders agree, has tarnished its reputation.
Public complaint
Keir Starmer QC, director of public prosecutions, will announce a decision on “a number of files”, but it remains unclear how many.
The BBC has not been able to confirm the identities of the six files passed to the CPS and neither the police nor the CPS has ever confirmed the names of those under investigation.
Labour MPs David Chaytor and Elliot Morley, both of whom are standing down at the election, and Labour peer Baroness Uddin have been the subject of police investigations, while Labour MP Jim Devine, who has been deselected by his local party in Livingston, has been linked to the investigation.
The Metropolitan Police began an investigation into a “small number” of MPs and peers in June after complaints by members of the public about alleged misuse of expenses disclosed by the Daily Telegraph.
EXPENSES TIMELINE
- May 2009: Daily Telegraph publishes leaked details of MPs expenses
- June: Police say they are investigating a “small number” of MPs and peers over their expenses
- November: Police pass files on four parliamentarians to the Crown Prosecution Service
- December: Police hand a further two files over
Q&A: Expenses row explained](http://www.paklinks.com/2/low/uk_news/politics/8301443.stm)
Key points: Legg expenses report](http://www.paklinks.com/2/low/uk_news/politics/8497877.stm)
In November, it passed files on four people - from both houses of Parliament - to prosecutors, and a month later handed over files relating to another two individuals.
Police have made no arrests during their investigation, although it is understood some people have been interviewed under caution.
In making its decision, the CPS has to weigh up whether there is a realistic chance of conviction in any of the cases, given the evidence available and the circumstances involved in the case.
If any were to face charges and be found guilty of fraud or false accounting, they could face maximum penalties of 10 or seven years in prison respectively.
However, any trial would be unlikely to take place before 2011.
The leaked publication of MPs claims in May, which triggered the police investigation, followed a long campaign by Parliament to delay publication of the details of individual claims.
On Thursday it emerged that 372 MPs have been asked to repay £1.1m after a review of all second home claims since 2004 by retired civil servant Sir Thomas Legg.
Slightly fewer MPs - 363 in total - have been told they owe nothing.
Despite the scale of the repayments, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May told BBC One’s Question Time programme that the public still need to be convinced that politicians have cleaned up their act.