Expenses Stories _ FAQs

"Expenses" stories are wide of the mark but typical.

Stories of expenses and MPs are easy targets – so isn’t it a pity that a few facts are not allowed to get in the way of a cheap headline.

“If people think I get much pleasure from printer toners and stamps they are living in cloud cuckoo land.” Said Andy Reed MP today in response to the stories.

Whilst I acknowledge the media love an expenses story there are a number of things the public should know to keep this in perspective. Newspapers don't publish balance so I rely on my website. I hope you will read on!

The so called Office 'expenses' are in fact the day to day running costs of providing my service to constituents from my offices in London and Loughborough. The ‘expenses’ go on rent, rates, telephone, fax, this website, stamps, freepost, equipment, furniture, data protection, printing reports, advertising surgeries, paper & stationery, computer support, insurance computer leases. How on earth I am supposed to derive any benefit as an expense from any of these is beyond me. Does anybody at work consider their desk, computer and the paper they use as an expense? Do the journalists writing the stories regard their notebooks as a perk or expense? I doubt it very much.

One thing that is not shown in these figures is the fact that between 1997-2001 I spent nearly £20,000 of my own money/ salary – to subsidise the costs of running my busy office and to pay my staff a proper wage. But the media and public don’t like that sort of thing do they? How strange nobody was interested in running these stories!

I have always published my expenses on my website every year anyway – so why all this fuss now?

In Perspective

I run 3 offices that deal with – 400 emails a day – 350 letters a week – hundreds of telephone calls. I have sent out 250,000 letters to constituents since 1997! We maintain a web site updated almost daily, deal with hundreds of individual complex cases every year as well as get involved in local campaigns. The office also has to arrange and coordinate as many visits as the Mayoral office. On top of this the work in the Commons requires coordination and research support for asking PQs, tabling PQs and speaking in debates and attending Committees and All Party Parliamentary Groups.

Running the office is like running a small business – I am responsible for keeping in budget, personnel matters as well as being the MP.

I would argue that the budget for running our offices is still not sufficient to do the job properly. I think the costs of direct communication with all constituents a couple of times a year should be included. We need to be able to engage directly. (thankfully the Communication Allowance was introduced in 2007-08)

Unlike most people I know in business we do not get expenses as they understand them. We don’t get expense accounts where we can take people to lunch – that sort of thing comes out of our own pockets. Yet you wouldn’t believe it from the papers would you? Now I am more than happy with this situation. I don't want an expense account. But I would like some honest reporting.

I acknowledge that the mileage allowance is more than adequate – but if you consider I was getting more than this in local government over 10 years ago it is hardly enough to make me rich but I would be happy to take the reduction suggested. (I did vote for a reduction in the mileage Allowance to 40p. Again strange how this cut we voted for never gets a mention!)

Finally the overnight allowance for staying in London is about right. Once again compared to overnight allowances for civil servants and most of my private sector colleagues it is not overly generous and is money paid out to do the job – not just free cash as some would suggest. However, the main problem is that the Commons Authorities have devised the most ridiculous system you could imagine for claiming an Overnight Allowance. Instead of having an standard overnight rate like most other sectors I know they have created a monster where we have to claim the costs of running a second home. This means we have to claim everyhting and generate even more stories for the press. Only an organisation like the Commons could create such a mess!

I accept that MPs will always get taunted by anything with the word expenses in – but I just wish that journalists would educate and explain rather than sensationalise. However, I know it goes with the job – but I suspect the public really know in their own minds that this is sensationalism.

Even the story about our massive 2% pay rise had to be called a ‘massive 2% pay HIKE’ by the media. As average pay increases are currently around 4% it is hardly earth shattering is it?

One journalist told me this week that he was glad they didn’t do the same with his expense account – the most creative accounting I do every month is my expense he lamented. Then he had the cheek to say he was writing a piece on our ‘expenses’

So in conclusion I plead guilty. Guilty to being a hard working MP who provides a full time office in the constituency – just as a I promised I would.

I know we will never win this particular battle as the media will always have the last word.

Ends