Expenses breakdown

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Below is a list of my expenditure grouped under categories for the last four completed years. The House of Commons had decided to publish details for all MPs this summer prior to the theft and sale of the collated information to the Daily Telegraph. Ongoing and eventually real-time updates will be published on the parliament website making the system the most transparent in the world.

Over the last two years I have been the 515th least expensive MP out of 645 which is fairly economical  - given that over 80 MPs (mostly London) do not even qualify for, need or get, an allowance for accommodation and therefore have significantly reduced costs.

Believe it or not most MPs in normal times spend very little time thinking about their expenses or trawling through the massive sea of paperwork that represents years of complex accounts. However, given the understandable need for disclosure it is right that information should now be put in the public domain sooner rather than later.

Figures are provided under three headings - accommodation, staffing and office costs. If any constituent has an enquiry about them please write to me or e-mail me enclosing an address for reply.

Accommodation: When working down in Westminster, I need somewhere to live as I'm sure you can appreciate it is too far to do a daily commute. London property rentals are the highest in the UK so I am given an allowance to rent a flat there. (Click here for a video tour of my accommodation.) The following items can be claimed for: Rent or Mortgage Costs or Hotel Bills; Utility  and Telecommunication Bills on second home; Food –  reasonable additional cost when away from home or travelling – up to a maximum of £400 a month; Furnishing – including white goods; Necessary maintenance and cleaning. Averaged over the last 4 years, the total allowance claimed was £22302. Of this £20529 (92%) was spent on rent and council tax. The following two charts show how the money was spent.

Click image for a larger view

Click image for a larger view

Staffing: MPs are allowed  up to £90,000 per annum to employ staff to work in their Westminster and London offices as secretaries, researchers and workers. The pattern has changed but I currently employ two full-time staff and four part-time staff. Salary, hours and experience are listed below.

Breakdown of MP Staff Costs:
Staff	Experience	Education	Salary (2009-10)
Employee A - 5d	+ 8 yrs	Grad level	25 843
Employee B - 5d	2 yrs	Grad level	17 625
Employee C - 4d	4 mths	Grad level	15 000
Employee D - 4d	7 yrs	Grad level	13 750
Employee E - 3d	5 mths	Grad level	15 000
Employee F - 2d	8 yrs	Grad level	7 644

It  has never been any kind of secret that my wife, Annette (Employee D), works for me as one amongst her sundry duties is sorting out trips for the hundreds of Southport residents that visit Parliament each year. She works for half the salary she used to earn before working for me and at a rate lower than the recommended House of Commons pay scale.

Office Costs: MPs need to maintain a working office both in the constituency and down in Westminster in order to meet the needs of their constituents. (Click here for a video tour of my offices.) The following items can be claimed for:  Rent of office and hire of rooms for meetings/surgeries; Lease and Purchase of Office Equipment; Utilities and Telecommunications; Staff training, research and consultancy services; Taxis and travel costs on parliamentary business; Stationery and Consumables; IT software and hardware; Office Security `and Refurbishment; Some Legal, Accountancy and Insurance Services; Additional cost of using part of home as office; Websites and Publications (non-political); Petty  Cash (maximum of £250 per month until 2009). Averaged over the last 4 years, the total claimed was £17401.  The following chart shows how the money was spent.

Click image for a larger view

EXCLUDED from this list are major items of capital expenditure 2004-8 above £500 which are listed below:

New Switchboard System £1686
Photocopier £1645
Laptop £899
Computer £671
Folding Machine (part share) £600

Footnotes:

MPs until recently did not need to produce invoices for any sum claimed less than £250. Nonetheless ALL office and communications allowance clams, however small, were submitted with invoices. Accommodation claims for utilities and recurring expenditure are largely independently verifiable if not invoiced.

Figures are subject to final checking by me with the Commons authorities and new independent audit procedures that replace the previously haphazard Commons procedures. Any minor corrections that may be required will be incorporated or acknowledged (e.g. rent claimed in a few entries appears to be different from, and lower than, the actual rent that has been paid by me.) 

I am satisfied, though, that the above figures represent a good rounded picture of how my allowances are spent.

Click here to see 2004/2005 Additional Costs Allowance Claims.
Click here to see 2005/2006 Additional Costs Allowance Claims.
Click here to see 2006/2007 Additional Costs Allowance Claims.
Click here to see 2007/2008 Additional Costs Allowance Claims.