Staffordshire MP claims higher expenses than Jacqui Smith
Mar 31 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post
Embattled Home Secretary Jacqui Smith received £22,948 from the taxpayer to help pay for her “second home” in Redditch last year, new House of Commons figures have revealed.
The Worcestershire MP claimed £157,631 in expenses, including travel costs and the cost of running her office.
The most expensive MP in the West Midlands was Paul Farrelly (Lab Newcastle-under-Lyme) – £167,055.
Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) claimed £164,614, making him the most expensive MP in Birmingham. The cash was used to fund a constituency advice office which was open five days a week for his constituents, he said.
But other MPs managed to get by on far less. Walsall North MP David Winnick (Lab Walsall North) claimed just £96,202 while Worcestershire MP Richard Taylor (Ind Wyre Forest) claimed £86,484, the lowest figure of any West Midlands MP.
In general, MPs appeared to be claiming less than in previous years – perhaps as a result of the bad publicity surrounding expenses claims.
Across the region, the total claimed was £7 million in the last financial year, down from £8 million a year previously.
Mr Farrelly said: “The costs I have incurred reflect the costs of running two offices in Westminster and my constituency, and travelling between them.”
Mr Mahmood spent £101,894 on staffing and £8,963 on communicating with constituents, for example by printing questionnaires. He also spent £10,600 on rail fares. He said: “I am very happy to provide a service to my constituents. Not a penny of it is spent on me.”
For the first time, MPs’ travel expenses were published in detail, including how much they spent on travel fares for their spouses and children.
Ms Smith claimed £2,531 in travel costs for her husband Richard Timney.
Meriden MP Caroline Spelman, who was criticised after it emerged she had hired her children’s nanny as a Parliamentary assistant, claimed £3,075 in travel costs for her husband, and another £3,885 in fares for her three children.
The high cost was down to being the mother of three children who spent their weeks in London with her, and then travelled to Meriden with her to spend the weekend in the constituency, she said.In total, Mrs Spelman received £120,832 in expenses - one of the lowest figures in the Commons – with 597 MPs claiming more than her.
Mr Winnick warned that the expenses system had to change - but rejected any suggestion that dishonesty was widespread in the House of Commons.
