Full list of 26 MPs dodging over £2,000 of debt as Ipsa gives up hunt for cash

Westminster Palace and London Eye, November 2007 by Herry Lawford

26 current and former MPs managed to dodge some £2,000 worth of debt owed to the taxpayer in 2014-15 as the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) decided not to pursue the money any further because it is not cost effective.

A total of £2,105.43 of debts less than £500 have been abandoned by the authority despite several attempts to contact the MPs involved, with the money not being paid by Ipsa because it fell outside the expenses allowance or was a duplicate claim, among other reasons.

Update: Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, a small government lobbying group, has an elegant solution to the problem:

“If sitting MPs are unwilling to pay what is due, the simple solution would be for the amount to be docked from their next salary payment. Those former MPs who have been named and shamed should also do the honourable thing and pay up – and if they are unwilling to do so, then the obvious sanction would be to remove the parliamentary pass they enjoy as a former member until such as time as their debts to the taxpayer are paid up.”

Below is a full list of the offending MPs:

MP Name Party Constituency Reason the claim was classified as a debt Expense Type Amount written off
Barry Gardiner Labour Brent North MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expense Outside Scheme £77.30
Caroline Dinenage Conservative Gosport Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Charles Hendry Conservative Wealden (formerly) Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Hotel London Area £87.60
Chris Skidmore Conservative Kingswood Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Hotel London Area £125.00
Clive Efford Labour Eltham Duplicate claim Newspapers/Journals £79.20
Daniel Poulter Conservative Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expense Outside Scheme​ £229.62
David Mowat Conservative Warrington South MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expense Outside Scheme £35.00
Edward Timpson Conservative Crewe and Nantwich MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Public Tr OTHER £127.70
Frank Dobson Labour Holborn and St Pancras MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expense Outside Scheme £7.50
Frank Roy Labour Motherwell and Wishaw Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient evidence to support the claim Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £59.87
Guy Opperman Conservative Hexham Direct rental payment for accommodation was overpaid to the landlord Accommodation rent £161.09
Ian Mearns Labour Gateshead MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Public Tr RAIL – RTN £10.00
Joe Benton Labour Bootle (formerly) Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient​ evidence to support the claim Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient evidence to support the claim Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £107.49
Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient evidence to support the claim Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £188.16
Julie Hilling Labour Bolton West (formerly) MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expense Outside Scheme £14.00
MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expense Outside Scheme £61.30
Khalid Mahmood Labour Birmingham Perry Barr Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Hotel London Area £6.00
MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Staff Hotel £6.00
MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Staff Hotel £12.00
MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Staff Hotel £12.00
Laurence Robertson Conservative Tewkesbury Claim for late payment charges, which are ineligible under our Scheme rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Claim for late payment charges, which are ineligible under our Scheme rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Michael Meacher Labour Oldham West and Royton Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient evidence to support the claim Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Paul Farrelly   Newcastle-under-Lyme Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient evidence to support the claim Expense Outside Scheme £28.00
Peter Bone Conservative Wellingborough Duplicate claim Own Vehicle Car £9.90
Duplicate claim Own Vehicle Car £18.00
Duplicate claim Stationery Purchase £12.27
Sian James Labour Swansea East Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because we received insufficient evidence to support the claim Public Tr RAIL Railcard £193.00
Stephen Barclay Conservative North East Cambridgeshire Duplicate claim Public Tr RAIL – RTN £50.00
MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Expens​e Outside Scheme £12.75
Stephen McCabe Labour Birmingham Selly Oak Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Stephen Williams Liberal Democrat Bristol West (formerly) Item on Payment Card deemed not payable by IPSA, because it is not allowable under our rules Const Office Tel. Usage/Rental £13.50
Overspend on 2013-14 Office Costs n/a £195.68
Stewart Jackson Conservative Peterborough MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Parking £7.50
Tim Yeo Conservative South Suffolk (formerly) Duplicate claim Health and Welfare Costs £10.00
Tobias Ellwood Conservative Bournemouth East Claim for an item which was ineligible under our Scheme rules Food & Drink £5.00
Duplicate claim Public Tr RAIL – RTN £17.00
MP selected ‘not claimed – to repay’ when submitting this item they purchased on the Payment Card, but haven’t yet returned the funds to us. Parking £4.50

Image Credit – Westminster Palace and London Eye, November 2007 by Herry Lawford

Jimmy Nicholls
Writes somewhat about British politics and associated matters. Contact jimmy@rightdishonourable.com