MPs’ Expenses
The public are quite rightly angry and dismayed at the daily release of extraordinary MPs’ expense claims.
I have long called for much greater transparency in the system and for an external auditing process. It is not acceptable that we police our own expenses. The current system is a shambles and has been for some time.
I have below average expenses for a Member of Parliament, and rank 500th out of 646 MPs. The majority of my expenses goes towards paying the four members of staff who work for me in Westminster and Blandford in order to deliver the best possible service to the people of North Dorset. I use the office cost allowance to pay for surgeries, stationery, office equipment and office running costs, supplies and office furniture.
David Cameron has taken decisive action on this matter to try to redress the damage done to our political process and I support these changes. Party leaders will be putting before the House a series of interim reforms, which will remain in place until Sir Christopher Kelly and his independent committee make their recommendations.
In the meantime there will be:
• An immediate ban on MPs claiming furniture, other household goods and daily subsistence allowance.
• As soon as practicably possible, every expense claim immediately published online.
• No MP will be allowed to re-designate their first and second homes for the purposes of the Additional Cost Allowance (ACA) without approval.
• Anyone selling a home for which mortgage interest is currently paid for by the taxpayer must confirm they will pay Capital Gains Tax if the property is sold.
I have taken steps to make my expenses claims available as early as possible, and they are now available by following the associated links on the right of this page. This data is due to be published by the House of Commons in July. Many of the files are large and are as supplied to me by the Department of Resources at the House of Commons.
Each file has been redacted (edited) by the officials in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act to remove security sensitive, extraneous and personal information. A summary of my claims is also shown below.
Robert Walter MP
Member of Parliament for North Dorset
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