TAXPAYERS paid out more than £400,000 for retiring North East MPs to "wind up" their offices, figures released yesterday showed.
A total of 13 MPs from the region stood down at the general election last May, while former Labour MP Frank Cook failed to be elected as an independent in Stockton North after being de-selected by his Labour colleagues. A total of £408,822 was spent winding up their offices.
Defeated or retiring MPs can claim the winding up allowance after the date on which they cease to be in Parliament. It covers the reimbursement of any necessary work, including staff and office costs, to conclude their Parliamentary business.
Doug Henderson, former Labour MP for Newcastle North, claimed the highest amount of £41,488 in the region.
His Labour colleague Bill Etherington, who represented Sunderland North, claimed £40,325 in winding up allowance.
Six other former MPs received payouts of between £30,595 and £37,540 each.
Former North West Durham MP Hilary Armstrong, now a Labour peer, claimed the lowest amount of £14,023 for winding up her office.
A total of £6,820,423 was paid out to 221 departing MPs – including 45 who claimed more than £40,000.
The biggest payouts were for £42,732, made to Roger Berry, Michael Jabez Foster, Julie Morgan, Lembit Opik, Christine Russell, Phil Willis and Tony Wright, all MPs from outside the region.
But claims for second home expenses slumped by more than a third after the scandal that engulfed Westminster.
Politicians received £6.8m from the taxpayer to run properties in 2009-10 – down from £10.7m the previous year.
The fall, revealed in new data published by the House of Commons, came amid public fury over abuses of allowances.
The saving to the public purse was partly offset by a significant hike in London allowance payouts. The rules were changed forcing all MPs with seats within 20 miles of parliament to take the allowance – but more than doubling the level to £7,500. London payouts subsequently soared from £148,904 in 2008-9 to £676,248 in 2009-10.
The Commons has yet to supply details for so-called “golden goodbyes” – effectively redundancy pay-offs for MPs who leave Parliament that could be worth more than £50,000. But it is expected to release some material soon following freedom of information requests.
According to the Commons figures, MPs claimed £90.7m across all allowance types in 2009-10 – a reduction from £95.6m the previous year.
The information released by the Commons yesterday covers the final period before the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) took over administering MPs’ pay and expenses.
