Shropshire and Montgomeryshire MPs in £23,000 expenses

Thursday 3rd February 2011, 11:35AM GMT.

Shropshire and Montgomeryshire MPs in £23,000 expenses

Shropshire and Mid Wales MPs claimed a total of £23,343 in expenses during September and October 2010, new figures revealed today.

Shrewsbury Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski received £2,996, North Shropshire cabinet minister Owen Paterson £3,862, South Shropshire Tory Philip Dunne £2,941, Montgomeryshire Tory Glyn Davies £10,317, Labour’s Telford MP David Wright £2,851 and Wrekin Tory Mark Pritchard £376.

The totals were revealed in the latest list of claims announced by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Claims found to be in breach of the new rules and rejected were being laid bare for the first time today.

And there was fresh controversy as it began emerging that around 150 claims were turned down and another 100 applications were only partly reimbursed by officials.

Details of the latest claims – some 25,000 in total – for second home, travel, office and staff costs were being unveiled by Parliament’s new expenses watchdog on its website.

They are the second tranche of payments approved by the body set up to enforce tighter rules on MPs’ use of taxpayers’ cash in the wake of last year’s expenses scandal.

The first set of claims under the new rules were published in December and revealed MPs were paid £3.1 million in expenses in the first three and a half months after the general election.

Ipsa today again refused to publish the individual receipts submitted by MPs to support their claims because it would be too expensive – despite warnings from critics it would mean the new system would still be open to the same abuse as the old one and further dent public confidence.

House of Commons authorities were forced to publish receipts after a long-running legal battle.

It was that detailed information which allowed some of the previous wrongdoing by MPs to be exposed in revelations which rocked Westminster.

But Ipsa did keep its pledge to make public rejected claims for expenses – after giving MPs and staff enough time to get used to the new system.

The latest disclosures were being unveiled as the watchdog continued its consultation on proposals including giving MPs with families more money for accommodation, and loosening restrictions in the longer term.

It follows fierce criticism from MPs from all parties who have condemned the “unnecessarily high costs and inadequacies” of the new system and called for the introduction of a “simpler” alternative.


  1. 1
    Stephen

    So, what’s your point? Why is this a lead article? I’m filling in my mileafe claims this evening, but you’re not interested in that!

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    • Andrew Owen

      How much are you claiming?

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      • Jeepers

        Andrew – behave yourself :-)

        There’s *plenty* of point in this story – everyone is aware of the ‘parliamentary expenses’ issue now, and I suppose everyone will be picking over them.

        For instance, why has Glyn Davies claimed £10,317 and Mark Pritchard only £376? Is it more expensive being an MP in Powys?

        I think we should be told. There’s no doubt a good explanation/excuse. Probably.

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  2. 2
    John Howard

    The point is Stephen that in the past some MP’s have been found out helping themselves to large amounts of our money that they were not entitled to. Had it not been for the rigorous investigation by the Daily Telegraph they would have got away with it. When ordinary hard working people are being forced to bear the brunt of government cuts it is only right that MP’s are brought to account for every penny they claim, legally or not. This is very much a public interest story and I applaud the Shropshire Star for keeping us informed.

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  3. 3
    twisting my melon

    I declared only 144 private miles this month and actually did 227..

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  4. 4
    Buskerman

    The article banner reads, ‘Shropshire and Montgomeryshire MPs in £23,000 expenses’.

    Don’t end it there. I feel I have been left dangling while waiting for you to make a ………

    If I may finish it for you, I offer the following:-

    ‘Shropshire and Montgomeryshire MPs in £23,000 expenses while Shropshire Star fails to make any point what so ever’!

    Report abuse

  5. 5
    DevilsChair

    SOMETHING AMAZING nearly HAPPENED, but did not – WERE ALL SHOCKED!!! (ok nothing did, but you looked didn’t you).

    How about asking why foreign aid could possibly be used to pay towards a foreugn leaders visit? eg the Pope.

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