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Flowery Steve’s Parliamentary Expenses online

FLowers receipt

I couldn’t resist having a quick trawl through Steve Pound’s expenses.  It’s hard to read some of the stuff online because a lot of the information has been “redacted” – parliamentary speak for covering it in black ink so that you can’t read it 

He’s not a serial abuser like some MPs but he’s certainly used the system’s weaknesses to his advantage.  There are regular claims for £200 or more unreceipted “petty cash”.  If I tried that at work I know what the response would be from the accountant – if I get a cup of coffee while away on business, I need a receipt to get reimbursed.

Steve obviously used to like to have a nice ambience in his office – in 2004/05 he claimed around £1400 for office flowers.  I’m not sure whether this meets the requirement of the Green Book which is the guide for claiming expenses – it states

It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself when you submit a claim, or authorise payments from your staffing allowance, that any expenditure claimed from the allowances has been wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing your Parliamentary duties.

Are flowers a “necessarily incurred” expense – I don’t think so somehow!

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This entry was posted on 19 June 2009 at 7:27 pm and is filed under MP expenses. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

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3 Comments on “Flowery Steve’s Parliamentary Expenses online”

  1. George Says:

    22 June 2009 at 6:47 pm

    I really don’t think you can get more trivial than getting fussed about some flowers which you do not say what they were used for.

    This sort of muck peddling serves only to keep politicians at the level of contempt which so limits engagement in politics.

    Steve Pound is not an expenses sinner in any degree which is noteworthy or likely to cause major outrage, even if he may or may not have spent a couple of bob over the limit. He is not in the same class as the Tory duck house or moat cleaning expense claimers.

    While everyone wants the expenses rules tightened as soon as possible and made very transparent (apart from a few stupid ‘hurt’ irresponsible MPs), the subject is getting very boring and takes us all away from the major issues in the world – and in Ealing.

    So if you want to be seen as a politician with repute, maturity and conviction let’s see you leave trivialisations behind a.s.a.p.

    Reply
  2. David Says:

    25 June 2009 at 10:05 am

    Any views on Boris Johnson’s taxi expenses?

    Reply
    • Ian Gibb Says:

      27 June 2009 at 5:03 pm

      Got the following e-mail from Boris – thought you’d prefer to hear from the horse’s mouth

      Dear Ian,

      It’s been a tough week this week. I was angry and disappointed to learn that my former deputy had made some very serious errors of judgement when it came to expenses. He rightly stepped down and we must now move on.

      I won’t gloss over my own issue with expenses. Despite being a fanatical cyclist, I have had to use taxis over the past year to travel to official functions as Mayor. To be honest, I always prefer using the bike, even to very posh functions. However, sometimes using a taxi is unavoidable.

      When I was elected, I promised that I would be open and transparent – for good or for bad. Even though the release of information about expenses can be and has created negative media stories, I believe that is a price worth paying for a truly accountable mayoralty.

      And it is important to focus on our broader efforts to run an open and value for money City Hall. We have made significant savings, such as cutting the media budget by £700,000 and closing down the office in Venezuela, saving £100,000.

      We publish all spending over £1,000 and, more importantly, City Hall no longer spends money on narrow political causes. I am pleased to report we have not held any lavish lunches with South American dictators!

      All this has enabled us to freeze our share of the council tax for the first time in 8 years.

      So, I believe we have a good record when it comes to respecting your money, using it with care and in a transparent manner. I will always be in favour of shining a light into dark corners, and one thing I will promise is that you will never see anything blacked out when it shouldn’t be in any document we publish.

      Hope you have a good weekend,

      Reply

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