Norman Lamb's Office Expenses Published and Explained

9.55.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 26th Oct 2007

All MPs are given annual allowances by Parliament to employ staff and run a constituency office and surgeries etc. These allowances include: Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) - to reimburse MPs for the costs of living away from home when on Parliamentary Business; Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) - to meet the costs of running an office; Staffing Allowance - to enable MPs to engage London and constituency based staff. There are also allowances for MPs' and staff travel, centrally purchased stationery and equipment.

The allowance claimed by MPs each financial year is now published by Parliament. In 2006-2007 the allowances Norman claimed were as follows: additional costs allowance - £18,756, office running costs (incidental expenses) - £22,043, staff costs £80,258, MP's and staff travel - £9,138 + £212; central stationery £1,962 and postage £5,049, central IT provision - £1,039 and other costs - £12,451 (this figures is the cost of additional staff to cover 2 periods of maternity leave during 2006/07). Norman's travel costs in 2006-2007 can be broken down into £3,418 for car/taxi costs, which are mainly the costs of mileage within the constituency; there was £1,942 spent on European travel on Parliamentary business, and the remainder of £3,778 was spent mainly on fares to and from London to attend Parliament. In previous years, because Norman's constituency office has been so busy, the costs of running the office have sometimes actually exceeded the allowances provided, and these additional costs have been met by Norman personally.