Dai Havard

Labour Party | Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney

MP's Allowances (I)

Part I

May 2009

No mortgage claimed, no relatives employed and no second job.

I have no mortgage on any property, do not employ any relatives and I have no second job or other financial interests. I live in our constituency and have always claimed rent from the allowances for staying and working in London.

Staying and Working in London

I have claimed allowances for staying and working in London to achieve a similar standard of accommodation to that of a military quarter or a serviced flat type of arrangement provided by businesses to people who have to work in London for long and irregular periods throughout the year.

I do not receive in excess of £150,000 a year in personal expenses. Most of the headline figure is made up of the allowances available to employ staff and run a constituency office. Less than 20% of that headline figure is related to my costs for staying and working in London. The only monies paid directly to me are my salary and any agreed reimbursed expenses, which I claim in retrospect for staying away from home and working long irregular hours in London.

I am taxed in the normal way on my salary and expenses are dealt with under the normal P11D process agreed with HMRC.

Breakdown of Claims:

I can not publish the detailed claim forms for the previous years at present because of Data Protection and other technical reasons. These documents will however be published in detail on the Parliamentary web site. I believe that may be in June now and not in July as originally planned.

Nevertheless so that I can give as much information as I can, consistent with legal and other constraints, I have attached (See Annex A) a breakdown in Table form of how I have claimed the allowances for staying and working in London for the period from 2004. Further than that I have set out a budgeted projection of how I intend to claim against the allowance for this financial year under the current system. Assuming the system is not substantially changed during that period which it may well be.

Comment on Tables in Annex A:

The rent I claim is for a one bed roomed flat within reasonable walking distance of Parliament, in a former council trust complex. The flat has an annual lease and the level of the rent is governed by the local commercial rate for such rented accommodation. A copy of the lease for the flat is lodged with the House authorities to ensure the costs are not just within the rules but proportionate to the location and facilities provided.

As I have always had rented accommodation and apart from the £120 redecoration costs associated with moving from one part of the same complex of flats to another (a condition of the lease) I have not claimed for any improvements or repairs to property. The claims for a Hoover washer/drier, some storage and kitchen items, and an ordinary 19inch TV and DVD recorder were made when I moved to a smaller but better laid out flat in the same complex. These claims crossed the financial years 2005/06 and 2006/07. As well as rent, I claim for Council Tax and basic utility bills, including contents and accidental damage Insurance, all are claimed in retrospect and with proof of payment.

To be as clear as possible I have set out a projection my out goings on these accommodation related expenses for this current financial year. Unless the system of allowances is substantially changed these will be approximately £21,850. As the overall limit for such claims this year is currently set at £24,222 this would leave approximately £2,372 of the allowance for any subsistence claims for the weeks Parliament is sitting.

Independent Study for a New System:

The system of what MP’s will be allowed to claim in the future for staying and working in London is, quite rightly, under revision. As you may know the job of devising a new system has been given to the Committee of Standards in Public Life under Sir Christopher Kelly. I hope they will report as soon as they can as we all need a new independent system. When he does report I believe Parliament needs to accept his report and not try and meddle with it.

Other Aspects of Costs and Allowances:

Travel

As with other allowances, I claim my travel costs in retrospect, against set mileage rates (based on AA rates). My claim consists mostly of journeys between the constituency and London. I can not claim for the Severn Bridge toll or the London Congestion charge. I also claim the agreed set monthly allowance for constituency travel. Any other travel must be notified in advance and agreed with the House authorities before I submit a claim.

Declaration of Other Interests

I make a public declaration of interests on the Members register of Interests every year about second jobs, shares, property interests etc. I do not have any other interests to declare.
MP’s Pay

From April 2009 the salary for MP’s is £64,766, this is my only salary. I am paid the basic MP’s salary and do not have any financial or other preferment for Ministerial or other Parliamentary office, such as payment for Select Committees or House Committees and therefore I am not paid any supplements to the basic salary.

A new comparator arrangement on which to base MP’s pay will be established for the future with, hopefully MP’s pay linked to an appropriate basket of comparable salaries of other public servants such as police officers and those in education and local government and the like. Once that new system is in place MP’s will then not be in the invidious position of having to vote on their own pay.

Other Financial Aspects

Gifts and Presentations Made to Local Organisations

Any gifts I present to local organisations for raffles etc, or presentations I sponsor for local sports clubs and the like are all paid for by me. In the same way the many wreaths I present each year for remembrances and the hundreds of Christmas cards I send are all paid for by me out of my net wages. None of the allowances against which I can draw are used for providing any such gifts and presentations.

Independence of Representation

I am not just sorry about the mess parliament has gotten into with regard to expenses I amazed at some of the reported claims and angry about it. Clearly we must have a new, transparent, independently devised and policed system. We have to have faith that the independent revision to the system of allowances and expenses for the future under Sir Christopher Kelly will now do that.

Parliament and governments however, both now and later, will have to resist meddling with it when it does report. A similar attitude must also be taken to the other independent assessments such as that which will come from the Senior Salary Review Board. If you, rightly, give such issues away for independent recommendation and then meddle with them when they report, you have not given them away. Unless these bodies are allowed to be really independent we will never cauterise the wound.

I am also confirmed in my opinion that there has to be proper and adequate provision of support from public funds for MP’s to do their work, without the need of gaining any other financial or payments in kind, is important for a healthy democracy.

The provision of appropriate pay and support for MP’s to advise and represent their constituencies in Parliament makes real the ability of anyone, irrespective of personal circumstance and income, to undertake the job of being a Member of Parliament, without financial compromise or favour. It helps guard against patronage and corruption and that processes itself must be independent.

ANNEX A ADDITIONAL COSTS ALLOWANCE – Staying and Working in London

Projected Allowance 2009/10			2008/09
Allowance	£24,222.00		Allowance £24,006.00
Rent	£19,972.54	**	Rent £18,912.86
Utilities	£677.52		Utilities £543.37
Council Tax	£687.62		Council Tax £687.62
Subsistence			Subsistence £3,385.52
TV Licence	£142.50		TV Licence £139.50
Insurance	£249.00		Insurance £249.00
Other			Other £88.13	*
Total	£21,729.18		Claimed £24,006.00
** Same flat on	new annual lease		* Administration cost for renewing
			lease on flat
2007/08			2006/07
Allowance	£ 23,083.00		Allowance £22,110.00
Rent	£15,469.96		Rent £15,173.97
Utilities	£471.92		Utilities £268.73
Council Tax	£681.68		Council Tax £805.44
Subsistence	£4,000.00		Subsistence £3,650.00
TV Licence	£135.50		TV Licence £131.50
Insurance	£180.74		Insurance £174.65
Other	£180.02	*	Other £1,879.76	*
Claimed	£ 21,119.82		Claimed £22,084.05
* Equipment and £75 broadband			* I moved to a smaller flat on the change of
connection			Ownership of the complex. The figure represents
			£120 redecoration costs for old flat, 6 weeks
			rent as a deposit and an admin fee for a new lease
2005/06			2004/05
Allowance	£21,634.00		Allowance £20,902.00
Rent	£15,393.98		Rent £16,139.25
Utilities	£476.00		Utilities £476.09
Council Tax	£755.33		Council Tax £739.44
Subsistence	£3,535.48		Subsistence £3,243.58
TV Licence	£126.50		TV Licence £121.00
Insurance	£170.33		Insurance £182.64
Other	£1,165.85	*	Other £0.00
Claimed	£21,623.47		Claimed £20,902.00
* Furniture for rented flat. Washing machine,
TV, DVD, a wardrobe and sideboard