miscellanean: 2009

Last year I emailed Charles Hendry MP (Wealden) about his expenses -- he got back to me about the John Lewis list. Given the current public feeling, Mr Hendry has felt compelled to send me the following unsolicited email and attachments...

Dear Mr Miscellanean

In view of our previous correspondence on MPs expenses, I wanted to write to you immediately, as I can understand how concerned you will have been if you have read the story about me in today's Daily Telegraph.

The story in the Telegraph misrepresents my situation and contains serious inaccuracies in both the content of the piece and the title. It is clear that the response I sent to them yesterday in reply to their questions was almost entirely disregarded, and it would appear the story was written even before I was contacted.

I am attaching the full email exchanges, so you can see the information that was provided.

There are a number of specific errors:

The Telegraph states that money was claimed to pay for 'two servants' and this included ‘general support in the garden’. Only right at the end of the article does it say, as my email to the Telegraph makes absolutely clear, that help in the garden was specifically excluded. I claimed around £35 per week towards some costs of help in the house. The Telegraph's banner headline suggests this was for ‘two servants’ when in reality it was for the costs of one person helping out in the house for one half day a week.

The Telegraph also states that I designated my home in Sussex as my second home ‘for expenses purposes’. This suggests that it was not also my second home for tax purposes, but as I explained to them, there is has been complete consistency on these matters.

The article claims that we claimed £376 for the 'farm’s CCTV system'. There is no farm.

It also states that in the past I have paid my wife to work for me ‘out of public funds.’ They did not check this with me. Had they done so, I could have explained that when a PA had left my office at short notice, my wife came in for two weeks to provide some administrative support. For this, she was paid the House of Commons ‘temping rate’ and was paid £476 for the two weeks work.

In all my expense claims I have abided by some key ground rules:

There should be consistency between my second home for tax purposes and my second home for ACA claims. I have never 'flipped'.

The ACA can be used for maintenance/repairs but not for improvements.

I have not claimed for anything without providing a receipt or taken any allowances in 'cash'. (I could, under the rules, have submitted claims for £4800 a year for food or £250 a month for any claim each month without receipts, but never thought this was appropriate)

I have not claimed for food or furniture/furnishings.

I completely understand why people are so angry about this whole issue. David Cameron has set up a Committee to examine all claims by Conservative MPs over the past few years. I have asked them to look specifically at the expense and allowance claims I have made.

I am very happy to answer any specific questions you have on any of these issues and would be very willing to meet to do so, if that would be helpful.

Yours sincerely,
Charles Hendry

Charles Hendry MP (Wealden)
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Web: www.charleshendry.com

Dear Charles Hendry,

The Daily Telegraph is investigating the expense claims made by MPs under the Parliamentary additional costs allowance system since the 2004/05 financial year.
We are considering publishing an article in tomorrow’s newspaper (June 2) which will contain details of your expense claims.

We are aware of the provisions of the statutory instrument passed by Parliament last July and will therefore not be publishing MPs’ addresses or any other details which could compromise security.

However, as a matter of legitimate public interest and concern, we intend to publish the following details about your expense claims under the Additional Costs Allowance. We would invite you to respond to the following points.

• Between 2004 and 2007 you claimed more than £7,300 to pay for domestic staff. Why did you think this was appropriate?

• You submitted to the Commons fees office a copy of your agreement with your two staff members, which was drawn up in September 2004. According to the agreement you paid them £170 per week. Why did you then sometimes claim £1,000 a month from your expenses for their payment?

Please could we receive your comments by 6pm today so that they can be given due weight in our inquiries and properly reflected in any article we decide to publish. Please could you also inform us if you do not wish to comment.

I can be contacted on XXXX or XXXX, or on email: XXXX

Jon Swaine

Dear Charles Hendry,

Further to my earlier letter, I invite you to respond to the following questions.

• Did you designate The Wilderness as your second home during 2001/02 and and 2002/03? If so, how much did you claim in mortgage interest? If not, what property did you designate as your second home? Please provide any proof available.

Also:
• You claimed about £350 in 2004 for pest control services, following infestations of mice, wasps and flies. In 2006 you claimed £75 for the collection of a sample and an analysis by an independent testing laboratory.
• In 2004 you claimed £376 for security work, including the servicing of the farm’s CCTV system, despite the bill showing that it was done and paid for in September 2003.
• Also in 2004 you claimed £380 for electrical work, including for some relating to lighting linked to your lounge piano.

Why did you think these claims were appropriate?

Please could we receive your comments as soon as possible so that they can be given due weight in our inquiries and properly reflected in any article we decide to publish. Please could you also inform us if you do not wish to comment.

I can be contacted on XXXX or XXXX, or on email: XXXX

Jon Swaine

Reply to first email from Daily Telegraph

Dear Jon,

Please take this as a response to your initial email. A further reply to your second email will follow shortly.

In order to carry out the duties I have as an MP I need to have and maintain a home in my constituency and a home in London. The expenses system is based on that understanding.

I have help in the home and in the garden at my constituency home. I have not claimed for the full cost of this as it seemed proper that I should bear most of these costs personally, but I have claimed for some of the costs for that help which was necessary and which related to the house, not the garden.

Most months there has been no claim, and therefore some months a higher amount has been claimed to cover a longer period. The £7,300 equates to approximately £35 per week and is less than 20% of the total costs of around £40,000 I paid for this help over that four-year period.

I am attaching a link to my website, which shows the basis on which I have made claims.
http://www.charleshendry.com/news-article.php?news_id=303

Yours sincerely,
Charles Hendry

Charles Hendry
Member of Parliament for Wealden
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
www.charleshendry.com

Reply to second email from Daily Telegraph follows on next page

Reply to second email from Daily Telegraph

Jon,

Thank you for your further email.

The Wilderness has ALWAYS been my second home. My main home for ACA and tax purposes has always been in London. No ACA claims have been made for any other property since I was elected to Parliament. I have never flipped.

I claimed for pest control services as the house experienced regular fly infestation.

Some old boarding was uncovered which appeared to be asbestos. We asked for it to be analysed. Had it been asbestos, we may have had to leave the property immediately until the asbestos was removed. The tests proved negative.

We installed and largely maintained a security system at our own expense. The invoice had been paid for but was not claimed at the time. When this came to light, as it was a legitimate claim, it was reimbursed. The bill also related to security measures at our home in London, which I specifically excluded from the claim.

The bill for electric works comprised a number of items including some repairs. It included the installation of a plug socket adjacent to the piano. It was not piano-lighting.

Yours sincerely,

Charles Hendry

Charles Hendry
Member of Parliament for Wealden
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
www.charleshendry.com