Burnham-On-Sea’s MP David Heathcoat-Amory has paid back almost £30,000 in expense claims for gardening and cleaning items, it was confirmed on Thursday evening (February 4th).
The MP said his repayment was delayed because of an error in the original assessment, but he had now paid the £29,691.93 owed in full.
It comes after a day of further national media attention on MP’s expenses following the release of a report by government auditor Sir Thomas Legg on the controversial subject.
But on Thursday evening, Mr Heathcoat-Amory’s secretary, Caroline Usher, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “David Heathcoat-Amory has paid back the full amount required of the garden maintenance and cleaning allowances, starting five years ago, which were retrospectively disallowed by Sir Thomas Legg. This amounts to £29,691.93.”
“David Heathcoat-Amory has always made clear he would pay back the full amount, and he did not appeal to the review by Sir Paul Kennedy.”
She added: “The repayment was delayed by an arithmetical error in the original assessment by Sir Thomas Legg, but was made this week.”
Some MPs have criticised Sir Thomas’s audit – which itself cost £1.16m – saying mistakes were made and some claim their reputations have been unjustly damaged. Meanwhile, Mr Heathcoat-Amory is due to visit Burnham on Friday (February 5th).
