Your MP’s Expenses: Annual Update
As in previous years I am pleased to report that I have significantly underspent my budget for staffing and office costs and continued my policy of claiming nothing for travel or similar incidentals in the last financial year.
Here are the details:
Members of Parliament are allowed under the rules to claim expenses for things such as Travel Costs, Staff Salaries, Office Costs, Accommodation and, until recently, Food and Drink. The figures are collated by an independent body called IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority), which was set up in the wake of the 2009 MP’s Expenses scandal.
IPSA are publishing their latest annual update and below I give some of the latest figures as they relate to my own record as the MP for Northampton North.
TRAVEL COSTS:
There is no cap set on the sum which MP’s can claim for travel.
However- since I was first elected in May 2010 I have never claimed anything at all in travel costs.
This means that I have not claimed for any train ticket between Northampton and London, not one litre of petrol for travelling around Northampton or between London and Northampton, not one taxi, not even for bicycle use (which can also be claimed.) I have also never claimed anything for the payment of the London Congestion Charge.
All of these costs over the last 6 years and 3 Months I have met out of my own salary, and my total claims for Travel are £0.
FOOD AND DRINK:
Until the General Election last year MP’s were permitted to claim for food and drink at the Houses of Parliament if the House of Commons sat past 7.30pm, which it regularly does. This was set at a maximum of £15 per day.
However- since I was first elected in May 2010 I have never claimed anything at all in food and drink costs.
This means I have met the cost of my own food, and also any hospitality I put on for visiting constituents, from my own salary. This has continued to be my practice and my total claims for food and drink are £0 over the five years from 2010-2015.
Since May 2015 MP’s have not been permitted to claim expenses for food and drink.
OFFICE COSTS:
MP’s are permitted to claim for the necessary costs of maintaining an office to serve their constituents. A Budget in the region of £20,000 per annum is available.
Since becoming an MP in May 2010 I have always massively underspent my annual Budget for Office Costs. Latest figures show that I have continued that practice this year:
In the financial year 2015-2016 the Office Budget for all MP’s was £23,400. Of that budget I have spent only £5,343.40. This means I have underspent my office budget by over £18,000 in the last financial year.
This is similar to my rate of saving for the taxpayer in all previous financial years since 2010- where I have underspent my Budget by well over £15,000 on each year. (Full details of previous years can be found on my website).
STAFFING COSTS:
MP’s are permitted to claim the salaries of staff working for them in their parliamentary duties. An annual Budget in the region of £140,000 is currently available.
Since becoming an MP in May 2010 I have always significantly underspent my annual Budget for Staffing Costs. Latest figures show that I have continued that practice in this fiscal year:
In the financial year 2015-2016 the Staffing Budget for all MP’s was £140,000. Of that Budget I have spent £120,698.04. This means I have underspent my staffing budget by over £19,000 in the last financial year.
This is similar to my rate of saving for the taxpayer in all previous financial years- where I have underspent my budget by many thousands of pounds in each fiscal year. (Full details on my website.)
ACCOMODATION:
MP’s are permitted a budget to pay for their accommodation (unless they live in the Greater London area in which case they cannot claim accommodation costs).
The allowance figure is set at the rate of market rent for a one-bedroom flat in Westminster- which is about £20,000 per annum. The MP is not permitted to own a property and then claim rent for it.
I claim the full amount on accommodation costs.
I rent a small, one bedroom flat in the Westminster area. The rent is paid direct to the Landlord (in my case called the Passion Property Group), and not to me- and I have no personal connections to the landlord.
I never claim anything for my own house in Northampton- but I do claim for the rent and associated costs of the rented London flat.
Please see my website for details of all previous year’s spending since my election in 2010.
You can also check this information via the independent IPSA website on www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk