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Clegg's £7k renovation expenses | Clegg's £7k renovation expenses |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has revealed he claimed more than £7,000 on expenses to renovate his constituency home. | Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has revealed he claimed more than £7,000 on expenses to renovate his constituency home. |
He used the cash to pay for carpets, curtains, light fittings, garden maintenance and plastering work. | He used the cash to pay for carpets, curtains, light fittings, garden maintenance and plastering work. |
He also received over £12,000 for his mortgage on the property in Sheffield, nearly £1,700 for his council tax and £600 for his telephone bill. | He also received over £12,000 for his mortgage on the property in Sheffield, nearly £1,700 for his council tax and £600 for his telephone bill. |
MPs can claim up to £23,000 a year on expenses for costs associated with running a second home. | MPs can claim up to £23,000 a year on expenses for costs associated with running a second home. |
The details were disclosed following a pledge from Mr Clegg that he would voluntarily publish a fuller breakdown of his MP expenses. | The details were disclosed following a pledge from Mr Clegg that he would voluntarily publish a fuller breakdown of his MP expenses. |
'Hammer blow' | 'Hammer blow' |
In March, Mr Clegg warned that withholding more detailed breakdowns of MPs' expenses would deal a "hammer blow" to public confidence. | |
He released his own information - published on the party website - voluntarily. | |
Aides said they chose the date before the government announced it would be publishing its draft legislative programme on the same day. | |
It gives more details than was previously available for his claims in the financial year 2007/08 but does not give a receipt-by-receipt breakdown of his spending. | |
'John Lewis' list | |
A note accompanying his expenses said much of the money spent on his constituency home was for "one-off repair work". | |
He said the Sheffield property had been in a "neglected condition" when he bought it and needed the work to make it fit for normal use - money was spent on repairing his garage, redecorating his living room and tiling his kitchen wall. | |
Mr Clegg claimed the maximum £23,083 under the additional costs allowance for second homes, in 2007-8. | |
He said that all his frontbenchers will disclose similar quarterly expenses breakdowns from July. | |
A Freedom of Information case revealed MPs can claim up to £10,000 for a new kitchen, £6,335 for a new bathroom and £2,000 for furniture - under the so-called "John Lewis list" of acceptable prices. | |
The additional costs allowance can also be used to fund up to £400 a month on food, interest on mortgage payments, utility bills, phone bills and hotel bills. | |
The House of Commons is fighting to avoid releasing the details of expenses claims under the allowance of 14 MPs and former MPs under the Freedom of Information Act. | |
They argue the publication of the MPs' second home addresses in a receipt-by-receipt breakdown of expenses would compromise security. | They argue the publication of the MPs' second home addresses in a receipt-by-receipt breakdown of expenses would compromise security. |
A High Court decision on whether MPs expenses should be fully disclosed has been deferred to a later date. | A High Court decision on whether MPs expenses should be fully disclosed has been deferred to a later date. |
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