£67k expenses claimed by MPs in two months

MPs across the Black Country and Staffordshire claimed around £67,000 in expenses during the first two months of 2011, it has been revealed.

Unpaid claims were also laid bare by the expenses watchdog – which revealed £13.50 of a £291.45 BT internet bill submitted by Dudley North MP Ian Austin was not paid.

Nationally, 25,000 claims were submitted for January and February, totalling more than £3.2 million.

Some 84 MPs were refused a total of £4,633 by officials at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Details of the claims for second home, travel, office and staff costs were unveiled by Parliament's new expenses watchdog on its website. They are the latest tranche of payments approved by the body set up to enforce tighter rules on MPs' use of taxpayers' cash in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal.

Ipsa also disclosed for the first time the sums being put on the official payment cards issued to MPs, which saw them rack-up a bill of £880,000.

The rules were relaxed amid politicians' protests and they can now use the cards with a £4,000 monthly limit to pay for stationery, hotels and constituency office costs.

They were already used to cover travel, utility bills and council tax.

The total payments for the start of this year were the same as for the last two months of 2010 but the bill is expected to rise significantly.

Angry MPs won a series of concessions after threatening Ipsa with abolition. The controversial changes were announced in March after complaints from across parties that the new system was too restrictive and bureaucratic.

Ipsa has refused to estimate how much the changes would cost the taxpayer, saying it would depend on what MPs decided to claim.

The extra staff spending for 650 MPs could potentially reach £3.25m, and the accommodation bill could go up by hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Claims by Black Country and Staffordshire MPs included a range of items.

West Bromwich West MP Adrian Bailey claimed £34.50 food and drink bills for an office intern, Cannock Chase MP Aidan Burley claimed £117.50 for office fire extinguishers and Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier wanted £2,026.88 for office furniture.

Chris Kelly, MP for Dudley South, claimed £101.55 for food and drink, while Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden claimed £260 for office cleaning costs.

Most claims by MPs were for accommodation and constituency office costs.

Bridgnorth MP Philip Dunne said: "Being an MP is now like running a small business.

"We employ people, we have office premises for them to work in, in the constituency and have normal office expenditure."

Wyre Forest MP?Mr Garnier has so far claimed £34,293.90 since he was elected last year.

Most of his expenses are for things like accommodation and his constituency. A large chunk also goes on transport.

Mr Garnier said: "A lot of money has gone towards setting up the office in Kidderminster – which is my main office, which I think is important.

"My rent is £3,120 every two months, and I claim for mileage.

"A round trip to London is around £120. What I don't claim for is things like meals."