Sense on MP expenses

The latest revelations about MP expenses reinforce the need for a complete shake-up of the whole system. Some good sense on the subject was written yesterday in the Mail on Sunday by Sir Alistair Graham who used to chair the Committee on Standards in Public Life. You can read his article here.

Later today the House of Commons will publish a summary of MPs expense claims for 2007-08 and no doubt there will be another set of adverse headlines. I thought it might be helpful therefore to explain a few things about what the figures mean.

My biggest 'expense' is the cost of employing staff. I employ one full-time member of staff at Westminster and five people in the constituency working different combinations of hours. The office team do an excellent job making sure that constituents get a quality response even when I'm tied up at Westminster or out on constituency visits, and in helping to brief me for my contributions to debates in Parliament. Their salaries are included in my total expenses figure.

The next biggest 'expense' is the cost of living in London around 100 nights a year. I have a one-bedroom flat near the House of Commons and claim for the costs of that flat. In my case there is no doubt that my family home is in the constituency, where my family live and where I spend the majority of nights.

My next expense is the cost of travel between constituency and Parliament (typically one train journey per week) and a limited amount of mileage around the constituency.

The final main expense is the cost of leasing and running a constituency office. I lease an office at Yate on which I pay rent, service charge and business rates. Further costs include things like phone bills, office equipment, stationery etc.

Adding all of these up comes to a significant figure, but I hope that this breakdown helps to explain a bit more of the story behind the figures. I have always voted for greater openness in these matters and for tougher independent audit, and will continue to do so.