MP Roger Godsiff vows to repay any 'unjustified claims'

Jun 2 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post

MP Roger Godsiff has pledged to re-pay any expense claims which cannot be justified, after it emerged that he claimed for work on his Birmingham home as office costs.

However, he insisted he had done nothing wrong, because his constituency home was also his office.

Mr Godsiff (Lab Sparkbrook & Small Heath) is claiming a subsidy on the mortgage interest at his second home in London but it has emerged he also claimed for one-fifth of the cost of maintaining his first home in Sheldon, Birmingham.

It meant he claimed £1,005 for rewiring, £3,953 for extensive roof renovations, £1,356 on fixing a leaking shower and replacing a Saniflo waste pump and £1,260 for redecoration, guttering and new bathroom tiles.

The MP, who entered Parliament in 1992, said the arrangement had been agreed with the House of Commons fees office because his home was also his office, used by his secretary and other staff. It meant he was entitled to claim expenses in the same way as he would if he ran his constituency office from a separate building.

Mr Godsiff said he could not explain a newspaper report claiming that he submitted a receipt for £69.98 from the south-east London branch of B&Q marked “Concorde 320”, which appeared to be a lawnmower. He would check his records and see whether the report was correct, he said, adding: “If the claim was for a lawnmower, then I would agree it was not applicable but until I have checked it all out, I can’t give a definitive answer.

“If there is anything that shouldn’t have been claimed for, then I will gladly go through the files and check it out and if there is anything inappropriate then I will make recompense.”

Mr Godsiff said he had “a steady stream” of constituents visiting his home to speak to him or his secretary.

“She has an office on the property. She also has storage space, where all the old files are kept. The fees office was aware of the arrangement right from the beginning. A percentage was agreed with them. I pay the cost of a mortgage on the property and don’t claim for that, because it is my home but the cost of her having an office in my home is perfectly allowable.”

He confirmed that this had included 20 per cent of a £150 bill from a Birmingham firm specialising in “the restoration of antique time pieces”.

“There is a clock in the office on a shelf and it didn’t work – in fact, it still doesn’t work,” he said.

Mr Godsiff confirmed a claim for £18.90 for Nurofen painkillers, but this had been for staff and not for himself. He also confirmed that he had claimed for four coffee-makers in the space of three years. The coffee makers were for his staff and they simply bought a new one when the old one wore out, he said

The MP is to stand in Hall Green at the next election, following boundary changes which mean Birmingham is losing one constituency.