My Parliamentary Expenses 2007-08

I know that many of you will be feeling very angry, let down and shocked about the recent revelations about MPs expenses and allowances.

I am also outraged at the behaviour of some of my colleagues, on all sides of the House. No political party has been exempt from this, and we all as MPs need to accept collective responsibility for an allowances scheme that is clearly out of touch with any standards that would be deemed acceptable outside Parliament.

I believe that David Cameron has shown considerable leadership pointing out that this is not about ‘the rules’ but about what is right and wrong. He has required MPs who have made excessive claims to repay money they claimed – otherwise they will no longer be Conservative MPs. I am also pleased that belatedly Parliament is getting its house in order, with the Speaker deciding to step down and new interim rules on allowances being put in place to begin the process of restoring public confidence pending a comprehensive reform by the independent inquiry led by Sir Christopher Kelly.

The issue that bothers most people at present is second homes. I want to make it clear that I do not have one. I commute to London when I need to be in Westminster from my home in Southgate. I have always taken the view that a second home for an Outer London MP is not justifiable and called for its abolition and am pleased that finally Parliament has agreed.

The next issue is transparency which is the antidote to the breakdown of trust in Parliament. I have sought to be as open and transparent as possible. Previously I have published a full breakdown of my expenses on my website and provided details in my annual report because you have a right to know how taxpayers’ money is being spent.

I have always held the view that it is a great privilege to represent my local area and that I hold the seat on trust on behalf of my constituents. It is incumbent on Members of Parliament who legislate on behalf of their constituents to have the highest standards of trust, honesty and integrity. You need to hold me to account for not only what I say and do in Parliament and the constituency but also my conduct and character which is reflected by, among other things, the way I spend and account for taxpayers money.

In addition to publishing once again a breakdown of my expenses for 2007/08 as I did for 2006/07, and which can be found below, I have decided for openness and transparency to publish on line copies of the expenses claims I have sent to the House of Commons Finance Department since May 2005. The links for which are:

 | Incidental Expenses 2005/06 (pdf: 5.7M)

 | Incidental Expenses 2006/07 (pdf: 4.5M)

 | Incidental Expenses 2007/08 (pdf: 7.06M)

 | Communications Allowance 2007/08 (pdf: 1.1M)

These are the details that will be formally published in July and they link my total expenditure to the individual claims I have made from the Incidental Expenses Provision and the Communications Allowance. I do not claim Additional Costs Allowance. The Parliamentary Green Book contains the definitions of these allowances and can be found here
 | click here

The blacked out areas in the forms do not hide any purchases but instead protect sensitive information which would be inappropriate to publish such as bank account and credit card numbers, suppliers sensitive information and some addresses and telephone numbers and also details of staff members. The deleted pages are the back pages of invoices which contain suppliers payment information.

Additionally I will publish my future claims for expenses online.

I have been paid the following salary as an MP:

2005/2006 £59,095

2006/2007 £59,687

2007/2008 £61,820

I have also received taxable earnings from self-employment for attending Court as a duty solicitor which has been reported to HM Revenue as follows:

Tax year:

2005/2006 £2,988

2006/2007 £3,318

2007/2008 £2,851

Finally, I have arranged a public meeting to discuss the issue of MPs’ expenses and how trust in Parliament can be restored. Please come along to Christ Church Southgate, Waterfall Road on May 28th at 8pm and have your say.

Please do contact me if you have any questions about any of the information.

David Burrowes MP

Parliamentary Expenses Years 2007/08

The following information provides details of how much it cost in the year 2007/08 to run my offices in Westminster and Winchmore Hill and to do my job as an MP. There were 559 other MPs more expensive than me. I was ranked 560th and £7,000 cheaper than the year before, despite having additional costs of staff cover for maternity leave during 2007/08, shown as staff cover.

Property - I own one property in Southgate. I do not rent or own accommodation in London and I claimed the London supplement of £2,812.

Travel - Most of my travel is by tube between Southgate or Arnos Grove and London. In the Summer I use a pushbike around the constituency, otherwise a car is used and costs are not usually claimed for these modes of transport.

I use taxis to get home from the tube station late at night when no buses are available at a total cost of £333.50 this year.

I made no European trips this year and spent £12 on spouse travel and £6 on employee travel.

Rail and tube from home to Westminster cost £754 and Rail to areas outside the constituency for visits in my capacity as a Shadow Justice Minister cost £105.

Constituency Office costs - I do not rent office space from anyone with connections to me or my family. Rent for my constituency office has been determined at the open market rate of £7,000.

Constituency office costs in Winchmore Hill include rent, council tax £1,864.80, waste agreement £38, telephones £1,322, electricity £656.21, insurance £114.84, repairs £65.97 and maintenance, stationery (including Westminster) £673, general cleaning materials, newspapers, small stationery items, toilet rolls and the usual other office sundries.

Computer hardware, printer toner and headed paper printing for both Constituency and Westminster offices are paid from this allowance as are room hire costs for public meetings.

Costs for Parliamentary Research Unit consultancy services of £2,261.88 are also paid from this allowance as are my Parliamentary mobile telephone costs.

Staffing - My constituency office is staffed 5 days a week throughout the year, although the office is closed between Christmas and New Year. Occasionally my constituency staff work on Saturdays in the office. Staff also attend my Saturday drop-in surgery at the end of each month.

My Westminster office is staffed from Monday to Friday and again is closed between Christmas and New Year.

All my staff were paid the appropriate Parliamentary rates.

I employed my sister part time in the constituency office as a caseworker and secretary until she resigned and left my employment on the 11th April 2008. She worked 15 hours a week and was paid £7,473.20 in 2007/08.

My expenses for 2007/08 are as follows (published 1st April 2009).

*(The rank is in relation to the other 646 MPs' expenses with a rank of 1 being the most expensive):
You can find the information for all MPs on the http://www.parliament.uk/ website.

Information on 07/08 expenditure was made public by the House of Commons 1st April 2009.

Link to the above rankings on the "TheyWorkForYou" website http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/david_burrowes/enfield%2C_southgate