New charities minister claimed £13,900 on food over four years

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 30 Jun 2009

Charities minister Angela Smith has claimed £13,900 in food expenses over the past four years as part of her second homes allowance – an average of £289 a month.

Smith told Charity News Alert that the ‘food’ claims were for subsistence and relate to the time spent away from home.

Her highest monthly claim for food hit £400. She claimed an average of £289 for food per month from 2004 to 2008.

Smith spent £10,774 on mortgage interest for her two-bedroom Elephant and Castle flat over the four years. Refurbishments costing £12,085 were also claimed.

She was also a big spender on stationery and postage costs for her offices, claiming £4,152 for April 2007 to March 2008.

This amount is almost double the combined total that shadow charities minister Nick Hurd (£690) and Liberal Democrat charities spokeswoman Jenny Willott (£1,405) spent.

Willott claimed up to £1,500 a month to live in a flat in London as her second home. Nick Hurd does not claim a second homes allowance as he lives in London, he instead claims the smaller London Supplement, which amounted to £2,812 last year.

Smith's total expense claims for 2007/08 amounted to £148,193.00. Willott claimed £149,594.00 and Hurd £118,669.00 in total for the same period.

Find all MPs' expense claims here.

Vibeka Mair
1 July 2009

Who's Who: Vibeka Mair

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Sharon
6 Jul 2009

Good grief. Most of us mere mortals have to pay for food from our salaries - aren't MPs lucky? This is the thing that I find most outrageous about many of these expense claims - not the issue of whether or not they needed these things, but the fact that they are paid a salary and THEN they're claiming money back for things that the rest of us quite rightly have to pay for with our own hard-earned cash.

[Reply]

John S
Finance Director
DAOF
1 Jul 2009

It is necessary for MPs to eat but not at our expense. They do after all get a salary.

If, exceptionally, an MP incurred ADDITIONAL costs because (for example) they had to throw out half a pint of milk that had been left in the fridge at their "principal" home which they had not visited for 3 weeks then they should perhaps be allowed to claim.

But normally they should be expected either to eat at one home or at the other (or in the very heavily subsidised Commons dining rooms). Even a greedy MP cannot eat 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 2 dinners every day.

[Reply]

Alan Martin
1 Jul 2009

I can understand the need for some MPs - but not those who represent London constituencies - to have second homes, but it appears that some MPs have second stomachs that need filling.

[Reply]

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