Travel and subsistence claims for senior judges are to be published from October. The announcement, obviously a reaction to the scandal of MPs' expenses, was made by the Lord Chief Justice on the last day of the legal term.

In a statement, Lord Judge said he had decided "that from the start of the new Legal Year in October 2009, the expenses claims of High Court Judges and above will be recorded in such a way that they can be attributed to individual judges and published at regular intervals".

He noted wryly that thed rates for full-time and part-time judges were set in 2002 by the Lord Chancellor with the approval of HM Revenue and Customs "and have not been increased since".

They include a pedal-cycle allowance of 20p per mile. I don't know how often this is claimed -- we shall find out in due course -- but plenty of judges store their push-bikes just inside the judges' entrance at the back of the law courts in London.

Other payment rates can be found here. They include a second-home allowance in London of £32.45, but only for "expenses necessarily incurred".