Re: Geraint Davies expense claims & more

fred_eg_bowinatuck wrote: 
"expose" wrote


Why was the London to East Croydon service so bad that the New
Labour MP Geraint Davies needed to charge us all for him to have
a second home?

http://expenses.geraintdavies.org/#secondhome

http://map.geraintdavies.org/


I have the feeling outside a line on the map MPs are entitled to claim! 



I see from the link that

'Asked to justify the £20,000 he claimed for a second home in central London, despite the fact that his Croydon home is just half an hour from Westminster by public transport, he said he needed it because he worked long hours at the Commons.

"I found myself working lots of late nights and early mornings and I could not claim for out-of-hours taxi fares," he said.'

The figure's actually for his 'additional costs allowance', which 'is paid to reimburse Members for necessary costs incurred when staying overnight away from their main home for the purpose of performing parliamentary duties. Inner London Members do not receive this allowance.'

http://www.parliament.uk/about_commons/hocallowances/hocallowances05.cfm

The £20,902 he claimed is the maximum.   According to the figures at

http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mps.php?parliament=2001&sort=attendance

he attended pretty frequently -- 71.8% of the votes, so I suppose he could well often have found himself stuck in London late at night. I see his colleague Richard Ottaway, the Conservative MP for Croydon South, who attended rather less frequently (64.8% of the votes), claimed the same amount.

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/HoCallowances0405.pdf

I'm more puzzled by the numerous MPs who contrived to claim *both* the additional costs allowance *and* the London Supplement despite not being London MPs, though 'in 2004-05, Ministers who did not live in official accommodation and certain office holders automatically received the London Supplement with their salary', so that might explain it.

Steve


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