Payback time as MPs count cost of expenses row (From The Northern Echo)

Payback time as MPs count cost of expenses row

8:25am Saturday 20th June 2009

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THE region’s MPs were counting the cost of the expenses storm last night – as it emerged they have paid back nearly £10,000 to the Commons fees office.

Eight North-East MPs are among nearly 200 across the country who have collectively returned £478,616 since the crisis began in May.

Last night, that figure was set to rise even further, as the Commons authorities prepared to update the list following the latest flurry of expenses revelations.

Top of the payback list in the North-East is Hilary Armstrong (North-West Durham), who revealed early on in the crisis that she was voluntarily repaying £5,500 of food claims, because it weighed on her “conscience”.

Until recently, all MPs were allowed to claim up to £400 each month without providing receipts - one of the biggest criticisms of the lax regime - although the former chief whip claimed about £150-a-month.

Now Sharon Hodgson (Gateshead East and Washington West) has repaid £1,516.66 wrongly paid out in mortgage interest.

Ms Hodgson said: “When reviewing my claims I spotted an administrative error which meant I had received one duplicate payment shortly after my election.

“As soon as I spotted it I contacted the Fees Office to pay back the money immediately.

It really should have been highlighted by the Fees Office at the time, but I’m glad its all been sorted out now.”

Next on the list is Jim Cousins (Newcastle Central), who has paid back £1,427.40.

It is not known why the money was returned, but the backbencher’s receipts raised eyebrows when they were revealed on Thursday.

They included £1,000 for the cost of removing ivy from his garden – plus £455 for fencing, £78.46 for a shed and bin and a £24.98 spade.

Again, no reason has been given for Foreign Secretary David Miliband (South Shields) repaying £434.24, but the Telegraph reported that his gardener queried his claims of up to £180 every three months on his garden.

John Cummings (Easington) has paid back £277.06 for claims made in the last financial year, 2008-09, which was not covered by the receipts published this week.

Kevan Jones (Durham North) revealed last month that he had overclaimed for council tax on his London home – forcing him to send the fees office a cheque for £170.

Meanwhile, one of the region’s former MPs features prominently on the payback list. Michael Fallon, ex-Tory MP for Darlington and now an MP in Kent, has paid back £2,526.25.

It was revealed last month that Mr Fallon had claimed for the entire mortgage repayments on his Westminster flat, instead of simply the interest charges, as the rules allow.

The list reveals the top five repayments to be Phil Hope (Labour – £42,674), Elliot Morley (Labour – £36,800), Barbara Follett (Labour – £32,976), Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative – £25,000) and Keith Vaz (Labour – £18,949).

Labour came off worst.

The party’s MPs have paid back £316,027 (66 per cent of the total returned), compared with the Conservatives (£130,798, or 27 per cent) and the Liberal Democrats (£27,082, or five per cent).

■ MPs have claimed expenses for council tax they have not paid, it was reported last night.

Some have raked in thousands of pounds on “phantom”

local authority bills, according to today’s Daily Telegraph.

It said that dozens of MPs’ claims for council tax on their second homes had been in excess of town halls’ published rates.

The Telegraph reported that more than 50 MPs had claimed too much for council tax.

Blair’s £6,990 claim for repairs

TONY BLAIR, the former Prime Minister and MP for Sedgefield, tried to claim almost £7,000 on expenses to repair his constituency home two days before leaving office, it has emerged.

Mr Blair submitted an invoice for “repairs to roof and guttering” at his constituency property in Trimdon, County Durham, on June 25, 2007. The bill for £6,990 was rejected by the House of Commons Fees Office which reduced the payout to £4,453.

The builder’s invoice was dated June 8, less than three weeks before Mr Blair stood down.

The property is still owned by Mr Blair and is used as the headquarters for his charity, The Tony Blair Sports Foundation.

John Burton, Mr Blair’s former agent and chairman of the foundation’s advisory board, said the claim was perfectly legitimate.

“The work was started about six months or so before the invoice actually came and the claim was made after the invoice arrived,” he said.

“That’s all there is to it.”

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