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David Willetts full expenses revealed
Havant MP David Willetts today became embroiled in the parliamentary expenses scandal after it was revealed he claimed £115 for workmen to replace 25 lightbulbs.
On the same bill the senior Tory charged another 80 to 'change lights in bathroom'.
It was part of an invoice of odd jobs at his second home in West London, including cleaning a shower head, which added up to 2,191.38, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
Oxford-educated Mr Willetts had some claims rejected either because he had exceeded his annual expenses limit or he had made an error.
Rival politicians today blasted Mr Willetts, who earns 64,766 a year.
Ann Buckley, Havant's Lib Dem deputy leader, said: 'It does seem to be rather excessive. It's disappointing that taxpayers' money is being spent in this way.
'To a lot of local people that is a very large sum of money and for an MP to spend this just for repairs is quite shocking.'
In December 2005 Mr Willetts submitted two bills for plumbing work totalling 1,441.54, which were both invoiced to his wife, Sarah, at the couple's constituency home in Havant.
But a parliamentary official wrote back to the MP saying his claim had been reduced as the invoice address was 'different from that nominated as your second home'.
Four months later Mr Willetts submitted duplicate invoices from the same West London plumbers, this time invoiced to his semi-detached home in Hammersmith.
Sent with the invoice was a letter written by Mr Willetts which said: 'These invoices were rejected on the grounds that they bore my address in Havant, as if that is where the work had been carried out, which would not of course qualify for reimbursement ... the work was in fact at my London home, and the plumbing company have resubmitted the two invoices correctly addressed.' The claim was paid in full.
He also went over his expenses limit in February 2005. Mr Willetts submitted a plumber's estimate of 8,219.12 for 'necessary repairs' on his bathroom but he was reimbursed for only 5,107.25 – the remainder of his allowance for that year.
Later the same month he submitted a claim for 1,100 for food, utilities, cleaning and other sundries, only to be reminded by the fees office that he had 'exhausted' his allowance for that year.
Mr Willetts today told The News that there was a problem with his electrics and so required an electrician.
'This was not me saying I can't stand on a stepladder and put a 60-watt bulb into a lamp,' he said. It was a problem with faulty bulbs which was causing many to fuse and eventually meant we had to call out an electrician.
'The claim was made within the current rules.'
WILLETTS BACKS CALL TO CHANGE THE RULES
David Willetts today called for a review of the expenses system after claiming it was bringing the government into 'disrepute'.
Mr Willetts said he was not defending the system that allowed him to claim 115 for workmen to replace 25 light bulbs.
He said: 'The rules currently say that maintenance and repair of a property is what the allowance is for.
'I fully realise that we need a different and better system. I am not defending that.
'I think it is bringing politics and parliament into disrepute.
'I realise we need to change and I'm totally in favour of those changes.'
The expenses scandal has come into the national spotlight after the Daily Telegraph obtained leaks of information held by the Commons authorities.
Full details of MPs' expenses for the lifetime of this parliament were due to be revealed in July after years of demands by journalists for the information.
It came after the government had to back down in January on plans to exempt expenses from the Freedom of Information Act.
The High Court ruled last year that details of claims made under the second homes allowance, including receipts, should be published in the interests of transparency.
But the Daily Telegraph has obtained the information unofficially and published a series of stories on cabinet and shadow cabinet ministers.
An audit unit run by independent qualified accountants will now be set up to scrutinise MPs' claims.
PREVIOUS EXES
Between 2001 and 2008 Mr Willetts claimed 143,764 of taxpayers' money for his second home allowance.
His mortgage interest cost 9,600 per year at its highest, but much of the expenses was spent on renovations and redecoration.
In April 2004 Mr Willetts also claimed for a shed base and dog enclosure at his London home which was refused because the parliamentary Green Book states that MPs can charge only for maintenance of their gardens and nothing more. But six months later the fees office allowed him to claim 330 plus VAT for the same odd job man to supply and put up a shed.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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