Bristol MP Jack Lopresti tops the list of claims with £12,511
MORE than £55,000 in expenses was paid out to MPs from the Bristol region in the first three months after the election, records released by a watchdog have revealed.
Newly-elected Jack Lopresti received the largest payment in the region – £12,511.13 – according to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa).
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Most of the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke's claims were his £1,430-a-month rent on a London flat and mileage of £46 for travelling between London and the constituency.
The largest single claim he made was for £3,877.50 for the Parliamentary Resources Unit (PRU), a Conservative party research unit that provides statistics to the party's MPs.
Charlotte Leslie, Bristol North West, claimed for the same amount for the PRU, while North Somerset's Liam Fox received £2,408.75 to pay for services from the unit.
The Parliamentary Resources Unit is a non-profit making service based in the Houses of Parliament that bills itself as providing "briefing, research, correspondence and related support to 270 Conservative MPs wholly, exclusively and necessarily in support of their Parliamentary duties".
Prime Minister David Cameron claimed £2,408.75 for his annual subscription to the PRU – the vast majority of his £2,581.13 claim.
The lowest payout to the area's MPs was to Kingswood's Chris Skidmore for £505.40, which included three hotel bills.
But the published payments made by Ipsa do not necessarily reflect the total amount claimed by MPs, as claims which had not been processed by August 31 have not been included.
It was the first time Ipsa, the watchdog set up to handle claims in the wake of the Parliamentary expenses scandal, has released details of MPs' allowance payments and the website had more than 80,000 hits within the first hour and a half, bringing it to a grinding halt.
The organisation has come in for criticism for refusing to publish the actual receipts submitted or reveal details of any of the 1,574 rejected claims.
Instead, the records released yesterday simply show the amount they had paid to each MP between the election and August 31, accompanied by a brief description.
It was that detailed information which allowed some of the previous wrongdoing by MPs to be exposed in revelations which rocked Westminster.
As the records were released, a fractious debate took place in the Commons about the future of Ipsa with MPs claiming the new system was too "complicated and unfair" and allowed the wealthiest MPs to be "treated as saints".
Expenses paid to MPs in the first three months after the general election:
Jack Lopresti (Con, Filton and Bradley Stoke) £12,511.13
Steve Webb (Lib Dem, Thornbury and Yate) £10,582.33
Stephen Williams (Lib Dem, Bristol West) £7,545.95
Dawn Primarolo (Lab, Bristol
South) £7,380.34
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Con, North East Somerset) £6,403.27
Charlotte Leslie (Con, Bristol North West) £4,342.27
Dr Liam Fox (Con, North
Somerset) £4,281.06
John Penrose (Con, Weston-super- Mare) £1,317.91
Kerry McCarthy (Lab, Bristol
East) £578.17
Chris Skidmore (Con,
Kingswood) £505.40
20 Comments
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by Mellie, Filton
Saturday, December 04 2010, 8:55AM
“Jack is far closer to Mr Freeguard, Filton councillor, than he lets on.
Staying well away from the council controversy rather than wading in...feathering his own nest.
Why doesnt he express his thoughts on how his Conservative councillors are acting and treating Filton people??”
by TheWatchman, Barton Hill
Friday, December 03 2010, 7:33PM
“Is this the same person that is quite a large landlord in this area, no wonder he needs no expences he houses people in slums - on Avonvale Road.”
by BenKingswood, Kingswood
Friday, December 03 2010, 6:04PM
“I'm not surprised Chris Skidmore only claims £505.40 - he still lives at home with his mum. If you want proper MPs to represent you then you have to pay proper remuneration for out of pocket expenses. It's commons sense.”
by Cor Blimey, Canny Believe what Im reading
Friday, December 03 2010, 5:30PM
“So over £12,000 in how many months? No wonder we have the cutbacks, this MP is grabbing what he can like his mate Freeguard. I hope the students dont get hold of you. And as for Chris Skidmore, glad to see people are getting value for money with that un. Well done lad.”
by Zero none of the above, bristol
Friday, December 03 2010, 4:42PM
“you get what you vote for
people ridiculed me for changing my name and offering the people of filton and bradley stoke the chance to vote for none of the candidates.
i also took the opportunity in my speech at the end of the count, to ask if jack was willing to lead by example in these times of severe cuts to public spending, and people losing their jobs and their homes, by taking a pay cut to the national average weekly wage of £489 a week
none of the press there took this up, and no answer from jack
but like i said you get what you vote for”
by zero none of the above, bristol
Friday, December 03 2010, 4:40PM
“you get what you vote for
people ridiculed me for changing my name and offering the people of filton and bradley stoke the chance to vote for none of the candidates.
i also took the opportunity in my speech at the end of the count, to ask if jack was willing to lead by example in these times of severe cuts to public spending, and people losing their jobs and their homes, by taking a pay cut to the national average weekly wage of £489 a week
none of the press there took this up, and no answer from jack
but like i said you get what you vote for”
by Mike, Mackie
Friday, December 03 2010, 3:01PM
“I really wouldnt mind as long as Jack waded into local matters and sorted them out more.
He's always seen around Filton with his Filton council buddy Mr Freeguard...yet he cant bend his ear about the outrageous way in which they are managing themselves.
You really have to question underneath are they all in it for what they acan get?
In September he called for the council to review its planned office extension.
Now they have gone ahead and completely ignored you Jack!
You are a local taxpayer in influential MP...can you call for the public enquiry into this council?
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/MP-wants-office-reviewed/article-2631764-detail/article.html”
by Non-sycophant, South Glos
Friday, December 03 2010, 2:39PM
“http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/MP-goes-fact-finding-mission-Rock-Gibraltar/article-2507985-detail/article.html
No, he went on 'Parliamentary business' - therefore it didn't require an expense claim, Craig. Still paid for by you and I.
Though quite what he was hoping to learn on a 'fact finding' tour is open to interpretation.
Hasn't he heard of Wikipedia?”
by Alex, Redcliffe
Friday, December 03 2010, 2:22PM
“Have to agree that the claims seem very reasonable. £70 per night in London is peanuts. I had to stay at a Holiday Inn a couple of weeks ago for 1 night mid-week and had to pay £150, and that is the lower end of the market!
Alan ¿ I don¿t know what you want. As long as the country is run by party politics, the politicians will always have their priorities on national issues and supporting the party line. This is not just the case in Filton, but many other areas. The only solution is to have a parliament made up of completely independent MPs and get rid of parties altogether. The problem is nothing would then get done for the country as a whole. Unfortunately, national issues are more important than those in Filton and it is hard for MPs to represent the views of their constituents if this contradicts the overall will of the party any MP works for. The job of running an area like Filton falls to the council and it is not Mr Lopresti¿s fault if they are not doing their job. His responsibility is to represent you in Parliament, not run the council. If you don¿t like it, do something at the local elections.”
by Maz, Bristol
Friday, December 03 2010, 1:44PM
“If anyone ever mentions 'Social Security scroungers ever again ill' grrrr”