Former Home Secretary apologises to Commons over her expenses claim

Oct 13 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post

Former Home Secretary and Worcestershire MP Jacqui Smith has been forced to make an apology to the House of Commons after an inquiry found she wrongly claimed more than £60,000 for her family home in Redditch.

She made her statement just minutes before it emerged Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is to repay more than £12,000 in expenses for cleaning, gardening and maintenance at his second home.

Auditor Sir Thomas Legg wrote to all MPs to highlight concerns which have emerged from his inquiry into expenses paid out over the past five years.

He said that any claim over £2,000 a year for cleaning or £1,000 for gardening is excessive and should be repaid.

As a result, Mr Brown is to return £10,716.60 he claimed for cleaning between 2004/05 and 2008/09.

The Prime Minister will also repay a £1,396 bill for painting and decorating from April 2006 that was inadvertently submitted twice, bringing the total to £12,415.10.

Tory leader David Cameron was also asked to supply the Legg review with paperwork relating to a £218 overpayment he has already repaid. His spokeswoman said he had received his letter and would be replying last night.

Sir Thomas was appointed by a Commons committee chaired by the Speaker, John Bercow, but MPs are under no obligation to obey his demands for repayment.

Those that could be affected include Sir Michael Spicer (Con West Worcestershire), who claimed £4,123 for gardening, Richard Shepherd (Con Aldridge Brownhills), who claimed £2,370, Clare Short (Ind Ladywood), who claimed £1,124, and Andrew Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield), who claimed £1,010.

Sir Michael Spicer also claimed £3,128 for laundry and cleaning in 2007-8, while Richard Shepherd claimed £2,890, Jacqui Smith claimed £2,600, Caroline Spelman (Con Meriden) claimed £2,537, Bill Olner (Lab Nuneaton) claimed £2,400, Michael Fabricant (Con Lichfield) claimed £2,160, Sir Patrick Cormack (Con Staffordshire South) claimed £2,040 and Julie Kirkbride (Con Bromsgrove) claimed £2,009.

The investigation into Ms Smith concluded that she wrongly named the London property she shared with her sister as her main home – allowing her to claim expenses for the house in her Redditch constituency which she shared with her husband and children.

But Ms Smith was not ordered to return any of the cash – and was simply ordered to apologise.

The inquiry also warned that she was wrong to claim for “entertainment items” including an adult film ordered by her husband, Richard Timney, on a cable television service.

But because Ms Smith has already repaid more than £400, which is higher than the amount wrongly claimed, the inquiry found no further action was needed on this issue.

The findings, from Standards Commissioner John Lyon, were endorsed by the Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges, which ordered Ms Smith to apologise to MPs.

However, Mr Lyon did vindicate Ms Smith over claims made by some critics that she did not really have a London home at all, and merely stayed at her sister’s house as a lodger.

He concluded: “The arrangement she has for sharing her sister’s home in London is more than some sort of temporary room in a stranger’s house . . . she pays a monthly rent and contributes to the household expenses. She has underwritten her sister’s mortgage application.”

Ms Smith told the Commons: “I accept the committee’s conclusions and I therefore apologise to the House.”