3:23pm Friday 19th June 2009
By Michael Purton
PARLIAMENT has published the receipts of all MPs' expenses for the past four years, including the claims of the 13 MPs in the News Shopper area.
In the last financial year, these 13 MPs claimed a total of more than £1.7 million, which breaks down as follows:
Erith and Thamesmead MP John Austin claimed £145,285.
This included the maximum claim allowed for a second home, £23,083, for his flat in Rotherhithe.
In January last year Mr Austin claimed £29.98 for an electric heater he bought for the flat.
Old Bexley and Sidcup MP Derek Conway claimed £130,947.
This included the maximum claim allowed for a second home, despite having a mansion block flat in Victoria where he and his family have lived for a number of years.
Mr Conway claimed £98,785 for his office expenses.
This included around £40,000 plus bonuses which his pays to his wife Colette for acting as his Parliamentary assistant, and £6,450 which he paid his son Freddie for acting as a researcher in 2007/8.
Mr Conway was censured for employing both his sons by the House of Commons select committee on standards, after which some of the money was paid back.
Bexleyheath and Crayford MP David Evennett claimed £106,339.
He did not claim for a second home allowance, instead claiming the London supplement, a taxable payment of of £2,812 for London MPs who do not claim for a second home.
Lewisham West MP Jim Dowd claimed £131,165.
He was not allowed to claim for a second home allowance as an inner London MP.
Mr Dowd did claim £750 in petty cash between January and March last year on his incidental expenses provision and staff allowance.
Lewisham East MP Bridget Prentice claimed £130,565.
She was not allowed to claim for a second home allowance as an inner London MP.
She claimed £30,198 for office costs.
Eltham MP Clive Efford claimed £129,840.
He was not allowed to claim a second home allowance, as an inner London MP, and the majority of his claims were for running costs of his constituency office in Westmount Road, Eltham.
Greenwich and Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford claimed £117,562.
He was not allowed to claim a second home allowance as an inner London MP, but he did not claim for any travel expenses.
Lewisham Deptford MP Joan Ruddock claimed £130,766.
She was not allowed to claim for a second home allowance as an inner London MP.
She claimed £1,179 for stationery.
Orpington MP John Horam claimed £120,065.
This included £19,537 for his second home in his constituency.
Beckenham MP Jacqui Lait claimed £128,892.
This included £15,478 for her second home in her constituency.
The Fees Office has pulled her up for over-claiming £7,106 on her mortgage interest repayments.
She said she had a fixed rate mortgage and had not noticed the interest was reducing because she was paying off the mortgage quickly.
Bromley and Chislehurst MP Bob Neill claimed £152,794.
This included £14,314 for his second home.
The receipts publised online showed that in June 2007 Mr Neill had a council tax reminder, as he had failed to pay his bill on time, owing £113.13.
Gravesend MP Adam Holloway claimed £146,933.
This included an allowance for his second home in Gravesend, with Mr Holloway claiming £47.96 on a garden hose and sprinkler.
Mr Holloway says he tried to give up his second home allowance and commute to London from Gravesend from September last year to this April, but found it was not practical because of the long working hours he spent in Parliament.
Dartford MP Dr Howard Stoate claimed £147,732.
This included an allowance for his second home in Kennington, with Dr Stoate claiming £443 on DIY materials.
Dr Stoate has repaid the £11,000 he had so far claimed during 2008/09.
Blacked out
The expenses receipts published online by Parliament have key information blacked out.
This includes personal details and claims relating to security.
As a result it is impossible to tell from the documents whether MPs have ‘flipped’ their second homes, claimed for multiple properties in a single year or claimed reimbursement of interest on mortgages that had already been paid off.
To view your MP's expenses receipts, go to parliament.uk
What do you think of your MP's expense claims? Have your say below.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk