Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North

Hull MP releases annual allowance figures

Statement from Diana Johnson MP

I release today information on my Parliamentary allowances claims for 2007/08. I include information on how these office costs compare with other MPs in the House of Commons.

The total allowances claimed from the standard allowance categories for 2007/08 were £148,527. Out of all MPs, this puts me at 85th overall for allowances. I was 243rd for travel costs. However the House of Commons also made a payment from the Temporary Secretarial Allowance to cover a period of maternity leave in my office amounting to £8,310. Further details are set out under the staffing heading. This was a payment that is only claimed under conditions of sickness or maternity leave and I believe should be accounted for separately as I do not have any control over this spend.

These figures are set out below with a brief explanation of them.

Office Running Costs

I claimed £20,063 from the Incidental Expenses Provision allowance - within the maximum allowed of £21,339. This covers the running costs of my constituency office – rent, telephone charges, utilities, and so on. It also covers office supplies and equipment for both my Hull and Westminster offices. This was 239th highest out of all MPs.

Staffing Costs

I claimed £88,052, just below the maximum allowed of £90,505 – 313th out of all MPs.  This pays the salaries and employer’s national insurance contributions of my small team of full-time and part-time staff in Hull and Westminster. 

My office relies upon the good will of staff whose skills and experience would command far greater financial rewards elsewhere and unpaid volunteers who give their time so generously.

Temporary Staffing Allowance

During 2007/08 my Hull Caseworker took maternity leave. An additional temporary staffing allowance was paid by the House of Commons at £8,310 to maintain the normal level of casework in my office.  I had no control over these events and this expenditure. I merely complied with the contractual maternity leave provision in House of Commons employment contracts, UK law on maternity leave and good practice as an employer. 

I have been in an on-going discussion with the Parliamentary authorities regarding the unfair way that  they sought to include this amount as if it were within the normal staffing total over which I can exert some control and which compares more fairly with other MPs’ staffing costs.

Stationery and Postage

I claimed £1,253 for stationery and £5,478 for postage, against the overall total permitted of £7,000 and 65th out of all MPs.  This pays for Commons letterhead stationery and post prepaid envelopes. This includes the postage and stationery costs of dealing with many thousands of items of casework and other correspondence each year. A major beneficiary of this is Royal Mail Ltd!

For example, during 2007/08 I sent in excess of 10,000 letters to Hull North people who had been the victims of the June 2007 flood. The floods were one cause of the 1,517 new cases added as part of the 6,000 items of casework that my office has undertaken since 2005.

Central IT Provision

I claimed £987 representing the four year asset value of the computers and printers supplied direct by the Commons.

Communications Allowance

I claimed £9,872, as against the maximum of £10,000 – 174th of all MPs.  This budget assists with the production and distribution costs of keeping constituents in touch with my work, consulting them on issues and advertising my contact details, advice surgeries and events through such means as posters, leaflets and occasional advertisements in Hull Daily Mail.

Travel Costs

Travel cost for covers rail journeys and road mileage between Westminster and Hull, and around the constituency. I claimed £1,258 in mileage allowances (the rate is 40p per mile) and £7,930 for rail journeys, mostly by Hull Trains.

I also claimed £670 for various other travel costs incurred when on Parliamentary business and £996  towards staff travel costs. I claimed nothing for travel by family members. My overall travel costs were 243rd out of all MPs, including being 492nd for mileage costs and 88th for rail travel costs.

Cost of staying away from main home

I claimed £21,640 from the Additional Costs Allowance, as against the maximum permitted £23,083.  This is a contribution towards the running costs of the second of my two homes – I have one in Hull and another in London.  The home in London is required, usually from Monday to Thursday, when the House of Commons is sitting.

Conclusion

All my claims were made properly against the official criteria and on the official forms. I have always tried to observe the spirit and letter of the rules for MPs’ allowances as they have existed since I entered the Commons in 2005.

These allowances represent public money and I take great care to spend no more than is needed to be an active local MP - often working over 70 hours per week.  In the end, spending much less running my office would mean doing less work for the people of Hull North.

If any journalist wishes to find out more about the work and lifestyle of an MP, I repeat my annually-issued challenge for one Hull journalist to spend a typical week seeing what goes on at my offices in Westminster and Hull, and the work I do.

Ends