TAXPAYERS footed an expenses bill of more than £1m for MPs across the Get Hampshire area between 2004 and 2008.

The revelations come as all members’ claims for the period have been published in full - albeit heavily edited - on the Parliamentary website

The data contains edited scans of documents submitted in support of claims made against the Additional Costs Allowance – which is paid to reimburse members for costs incurred when staying overnight away from their main home.

The costs associated with running an office and fees for communicating with constituents are also listed.

The total expenses bill for North East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot and Gerald Howarth, MP for Aldershot, was £1,067,128 between 2004/05 and 2007/08.

James Arbuthnot

It cost taxpayers £3,030 to feed North East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot in 2007.

The MP claimed his full food allowance of £400 for seven months out of 12 in 2007, while public money to the tune of £2,433 went towards his housekeeper.

In total, Mr Arbuthnot claimed £146,192 in expenses, on top of his £64,766 salary in 2006/07. 

The MP, who bought his £2m home in Stratfield Mortimer without a mortgage in 2007, also pulls in an income from the rental of his two London flats.

Some of the details of his expenses were already known because the MP was named and shamed in the Daily Telegraph on May 11, but his constituents can now see the figures in more detail.

Named and shamed

Addresses, security information and various other details have been blacked out by Parliamentary officials.

In May, Mr Arbuthnot, a millionaire second son of a baronet, came under fire for charging the taxpayer for the servicing of his swimming pool.

After the revelations, he apologised and agreed to pay back the costs.

But he also submitted expenses for a number of smaller items which did not make it into the public domain until now.

In October 2007, he spent £183.39 purchasing a chainsaw to chop up logs and £25.82 on vases.

In August 2007, he spent £428.30 hiring an electrician to, among other things, change four lights.

Regret

Mr Arbuthnot said in a statement: "The only way to begin regaining the public’s trust and to rebuild the bond between constituents and their Member of Parliament is to ensure that all expense claims are entirely fair, appropriate and within the spirit of House of Commons guidelines and what our constituents expect.

"I have already said that I am sorry for the error of judgement that I made in submitting expense claims for the maintenance of the swimming pool at my constituency home and I have repaid the total claimed in full, but now I want the constituents of North East Hampshire to know that I am doing all that I can to regain their trust."

Gerald Howarth

Taxpayers spent more than £55,000 in the last four years paying off Mr Howarth’s mortgage on his second home.

They also spent £4,475 feeding the Conservative MP and paid his council tax and phone and cable television bills amounting to £5,561.98 and £2,867 respectively.

Dating between 2004 and 2008, they relate to Mr Howarth’s Farnborough property, which he took a £260,000 mortgage out on.

Although it falls within his Aldershot, Farnborough and Yateley constituency, it is classed as his second home as he lives in London.

The records show that in 2004, Mr Howarth charged the taxpayer £1,144 for work carried out at his second home by a gardener, along with £161 for a barbecue and garden chairs.

He also moved household items into storage, pending the start of construction work on an extension to the house, to the tune of £1,983.

Curtains

After being re-elected to his seat in May 2005, Mr Howarth had Medici Chintz curtains made-to-order for his Farnborough house at a cost of £726.

He also purchased a £190 chest freezer, a £370 fridge-freezer, a £370 washing machine and a £330 bed featuring an Albany Oyster Damask headboard – all paid for by taxpayers.

The bill for repair work at his Farnborough house came to £240 and lighting and kitchen accessories cost £115.

In 2006 he spent £197 on tools and shelving, £40 on a garden strimmer and another £40 on bathroom accessories.

The same year the extension to the property was completed.

Although Mr Howarth paid for the work out of his own pocket, he left taxpayers to pick up a bill for £1,428 for the repointing of existing walls, which included applying emulsion and undercoat and glossing the woodwork in the hallway, landing and utility room.

By comparison, the politician’s expenses in 2007 were much less.

Three phone handsets cost £60 and two chrome showerheads, including an ex-display model at a reduced price, were bought for £92. He also bought a coffee table for £229.

Hand-made sofa

In an interview with the News & Mail last month, Mr Howarth referred to a sofa he bought in April 2007 and claimed back on expenses.

He said he bought the sofa in a clearance sale at Bentalls in Hawley Lane, Farnborough, and that it did not cost the taxpayer a lot.

However, a receipt included among the MPs expenses reveal that it was a handmade sofa costing £675.

In total, Mr Howarth claimed £531,290 in expenses on top of his annual £64,766 salary during the four years.

This included communication costs and the expense of running an office.

Under these allowances Mr Howarth claimed £38 in December 2007 for official House of Commons Christmas cards featuring Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

A Who’s Who Wittaker’s Almanac for £129, a night in a hotel costing £140.40, including £1.40 for a newspaper, and an Armed forces guide purchased for £10 were some of the smaller items.

Taxpayers were charged £24,298.74 to pay for Mr Howarth’s research and £5,916.79 maintaining his website and email account.

Mr Howarth was unavailable for comment.

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