Between May 2010 and March 2015 Damian Collins MP was Kent’s most expensive MP. Mr Collins cost the taxpayer the grand sum £765,365. An average of £153,073 a year. Per month he cost £12,756 and per day he cost the taxpayer £425.
The source of all the figures is from IPSA – The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
Office running costs include both the staffing budget which is largely made up of payroll costs, which are paid directly to the staff MPs employ to assist them in carrying out their duties in Westminster and the constituency. The budget covers all payroll costs (salaries, employers’ national insurance contributions and pension contributions). It also covers pooled staffing services and expenses for volunteers. Staffing costs account for approximately three quarters of the total spend by an MP on average.
And the office costs budget allows MPs to buy everything they need to run their office and constituency surgeries – this includes costs such as rent, business rates, equipment and stationery.
Other Parliamentary costs are for travel and subsistence (food), accommodation, miscellaneous budget.
Finally on the 17/12/2015 Damian Collins had the single largest rejection for a claim made to IPSA. Damian made a claim for £6,000. The details of the claim say they were for ‘fees for Noble Purpose’. The amount was not paid as it was not under the scheme, ie, not eligible.
So we had a look around to find out who ‘Noble Purpose’ are. It turns out that Sarah Richardson (below right), wife of Damian Collins MP is the Managing Director of Noble Purpose.
According Sarah Richardson’s Linkedin page she is Noble Purpose’s Managing Director and has been since October 2015 – Present (1 year 2 months).
‘Noble Purpose applies brilliant creative thinking to public policy and reputational challenges. Clients include global businesses, education institutions and political campaigns.’
Is there something you wish to tell us Mr Collins?
Update: In January 2017, The Sunday Times ran the article on the left about that £6,000 Damian tried to claim.
