THE annual business costs of Somerset’s MPs for the 2020-21 financial year have been revealed by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
Business costs are the essential costs incurred by MPs while carrying out their parliamentary duties, including staffing, office costs, and travel.
They cannot claim for personal costs, and all of their claims must be compliant with IPSA rules and accompanied by evidence.
The figures published in January show David Warburton, who represents Somerton and Frome, had the greatest business costs of the county’s MPs at £239,178.08.
House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, who represents North East Somerset, cost the taxpayer the least of Somerset's MPs with business costs of £167,578.17.
Five Somerset MPs were above the national average for MPs’ business costs (£203,880).
They were Mr Warburton, Ian Liddell-Grainger, John Penrose, Marcus Fysh, and Dr Liam Fox.
Across the board, the total cost of MPs rose by four per cent last year to £132.5 million.
Prime minister Boris Johnson's business costs were £178,406, while the leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer cost the taxpayer £168,109.
IPSA chairman Richard Lloyd said: “By far the largest area of spending is to pay for the salaries of MPs’ staff.
“In the last financial year, MPs and their staff changed how they work to provide their constituents with a service during the pandemic.
“We enabled MPs’ staff to work from home, while the amount spent on parliamentary business travel fell to reflect different working patterns.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “It’s important MPs have the resources to do their jobs, but many taxpayers will be worried about the soaring cost of politics.
“The electorate expects politicians to stay grounded and keep costs under control, particularly given the Covid pandemic saw many MPs and their staff work from home.
“With taxpayers facing a cost of living crisis, politicians should be doing their utmost to keep their spending down.”
How much did Somerset MPs claim in business costs in 2020-21?
David Warburton MP, Somerton and Frome: £239,178.08
Mr Warburton had the highest business costs of Somerset’s MPs in the 2020-21 financial year, and his costs increased from £216,840.31 in 2019-20.
He spent £204,123.70 on office running costs, including £174,345.86 on staff wages and £29,777.84 on other office expenditures.
Mr Warburton spent £33,326.53 of his accommodation budget (£33,880) and a further £1,727.85 on travel and subsistence.
He also spent £1,246.80 on a working from home allowance.
His smallest one-off expense was £2.94 for postage and couriers.
Ian Liddell-Grainger, Bridgwater and West Somerset: £220,047.29
Mr Liddell-Grainger’s business costs rose from £194,762.52 from the 2019-20 financial year to reach just over £220,000 in 2020-21.
His office costs were £198,953.12 in 2020-21, which includes £163,043.12 on staff wages and £35,910 on other expenses.
He spent £20,886.32 of his accommodation budget (£23,010), £207.85 on travel and subsistence, and £1,870.02 on a working from home allowance.
His smallest one-off expense was £6.99 for equipment categorised under ‘computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories’.
John Penrose, Weston-super-Mare: £214,909.53
The business costs of Mr Penrose, who serves as Boris Johnson’s anti-corruption champion, also rose in the last financial year to almost £215,000 from £175,621.23 in 2019-20.
He spent a total of £203,057.59 on office running costs, which included £193,027.23 on staff wages and £10,030.36 on other office expenditures.
He spent a further £3,202.70 on travel and subsistence and £1,543.38 on a working from home allowance.
His smallest expense was a £3.00 payment categorised under stationery and printing.
Marcus Fysh, Yeovil: £214,268.34
Mr Fysh cost the taxpayer just over £214,000 last year, according to the IPSA figures.
His costs rose from £209,655.02 from the previous financial year and were just over £10,000 higher than the average for all MPs.
Mr Fysh, who was elected in May 2015, spent £178,477.19 on office running costs, including £150,702.82 on staff wages and £27,774.37 on other office expenditure.
He spent all his accommodation budget of £33,880 and a further £1,911.15 on travel and subsistence.
His working from home allowance totalled £1,091.01.
His smallest one-off expense was 14p for stationery and printing.
Dr Liam Fox, North Somerset, £204,790.10
Dr Fox, who has been an MP since April 1992, saw his business costs rise from £169,184.20 in 2019-20 to just over £204,000 in 2020-21.
The increase put his business costs at around £910 more than the average for all MPs.
His office running costs amounted to £179,694.94, which includes £160,967.79 spent on staffing and £18,727.15 on other office costs.
He spent all his £23,010 accommodation budget, a total of £2,085.18 on travel and subsistence, and £857.13 on a working from home allowance.
Like Mr Fysh, his smallest one-off expense was 14p on stationery and printing.
James Heappey, Wells: £200,698.58
Armed forces minister James Heappey’s business costs came to just over £200,000 for the 2020-21 financial year – up from £183,738.82 from the year before.
Mr Heappey, who was elected in May 2015, spent £176,212.50 on office running costs, including £159,174.21 on staff wages and £17,038.28 on other office costs.
He spent £21,282.08 of his accommodation budget of just over £22,100 and a further £2,637.01 on travel and subsistence.
His working from home allowance was £1,453.14.
A £1.80 expense for car milage was his smallest single business cost of the financial year.
Rebecca Pow, Taunton Deane: £176,463.69
Parliamentary under secretary of state Rebecca Pow’s business costs also rose from the last financial year.
In 2019-20, she cost the taxpayer £163,391.04, meaning her business costs increased by around £13,000.
Her expenses were around £27,400 below average.
Mrs Pow’s office running costs were £148,117.83, including £130,466.97 on staff wages and £17,650.86 on other office expenditures.
She spent all her £23,000 accommodation budget, £5,335.86 on travel and subsistence, and £1,117.07 on a working from home allowance.
Her smallest one-off expense was 32p for car mileage.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, North East Somerset: £167,578.17
Mr Rees-Mogg, who was appointed leader of the House of Commons in 2019, had the lowest business expenses of Somerset's MPs in the 2020-21 financial year.
His business costs were also £36,301.83 below the average figure for MPs.
Like Somerset’s other MPs, his business costs for the latest financial year were higher than they were in 2019-20 (£142,788.35).
He spent £167,578.17 on office running costs, including £163,696.36 on staff wages and £3,881.81 on other office expenses.
His working from home allowance was £1,246.68.
Mr Rees-Mogg only claimed taxpayer money for office costs, staffing, venue hire, meetings and surgeries, and pooled staffing services.
His smallest one-off expense was £3.24 for stationery and printing.
The County Gazette contacted the MPs listed above to ask if they would like to comment but did not receive responses.
Read more: How much do Somerset MPs earn on top of their salaries?
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here