Data shows MPs cost £89m in expenses
MEMBERS of parliament cost the country £89m for the 2011/12 financial year, according to figures released yesterday by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the body set up to monitor MPs’ costs in the wake of the expenses scandal.
This is equivalent to around £136,000 for each of the country’s 650 constituencies and includes all wages, staff payments, admin costs, housing and travel expenses.
That figure includes MPs’ base salaries of £65,738 but does not include additional payments made to members of the government.
Liberal Democrat Greg Mulholland, who represents the constituency of Leeds North-West, was the most costly MP with £188,783 of expenses claims, which his office attributed to sick pay for staff with long-term illness.
By contrast Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, refuses to employ any assistants and claimed just £7,546 on top of his salary.