The borough’s three MPs claimed nearly three-quarters-of-a-million pounds of expenses in the 2021-22 financial year between them.
Many jobs allow for expenses to be claimed, but information about MPs expenses, including the amount and reasoning, is publicly available via the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
Bolton MPs expenses claimed for business costs in 2021-22 (total):
- Mark Logan, MP for Bolton North (Conservative) - £283,008.93
- Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East (Labour) - £251,121.86
- Chris Green, MP for Bolton West and Atherton (Conservative) - £207,611.90
That totals £741,742.69 - up by around £60,000 on the previous year.
READ MORE: Bolton MPs claim costs total of more than £680,000
By far the biggest business cost that an MPs claim for is staffing – Bolton’s MPs claimed more than half-a-million pounds between them.
Ms Qureshi said: “The overwhelming majority of these claims are for the management of the wider office and no expenses can be claimed without the IPSA approving them first.
“Over 80 per cent of my office costs are allocated to my hard-working staff.
“In total, I have six members of staff who deal with thousands of pieces of casework per year, address thousands of policy queries from constituents, and support me in my parliamentary campaigning, helping to prepare speeches, brief me ahead of parliamentary questions, and table written questions to Ministers.
“They go above and beyond and without them I would not be able to do what I do.”
Mr Logan added: “IPSA set the rules and parameters for costs involved in carrying out parliamentary work.
READ MORE: Mark Logan MP given Department for Work and Pensions role
“When travelling between our constituency and London, to Parliament, MPs are permitted to claim for the cost of travel and for accommodation.
“Personal travel costs cannot be claimed when travelling, for example within constituency, nor within London, and therefore only for the travel between constituency and London.
“MPs usually choose either rental accommodation or to stay in a hotel close to the House of Commons.”
When this data was recorded, the basic annual salary of an MP in the House of Commons was £81,932.04.
Therefore, including expenses and salaries based on the average, the taxpayer forked out just shy of £1m - £987,538.81 - for Bolton's MPs last year.
In comparison, according to the latest available data from the Office for National Statistics, the mean average wage of fulltime employee in Bolton was £31,459 in 2022.
As Mr Logan referred to, MPs are allowed to claim for the expenses on their home or for accommodation while in London for parliamentary business - be that for permanent accommodation or a hotel.
Rent, utility bills, and council tax can all be claimed on one property.
Ms Qureshi claimed for all three on her place in Bolton in 2022-23 – council tax to the tune of £2,301.48, £12,300 on rent, and £1,724.04 on utility bills – totalling £16,325.52.
READ MORE: Yasmin Qureshi MP 'delighted' with front bench promotion
She said: “MPs split their time between their constituency and London, to attend Parliament.
"As a result, IPSA takes this into account and allocates funding to cover the cost of one accommodation and its associated costs such as council tax and utilities.”
Mr Logan also claimed the full package but for his residence in London. He claimed for £1,195.37 worth of council tax, £27,039.96 in rent, and his utilities cost the taxpayer £194.28.
That’s £28,429.61 overall - the most of all the borough’s MPs.
He said: “I do not claim any costs for my home in Bolton. IPSA sets the limits on accommodation, and this will depend on factors such as location, whether you have a family, children etc.
“It is unfortunate that hotel and rental costs are so significant in London and there is an argument to be made for other ways to reduce costs.”
Mr Green claimed the least of the bunch for his accommodation costs in 2021-22 - £15,636.36.
This was solely put down to stays in a hotel in London - the most expensive of which was for £700 in December 2021, although details are not given as to the length of each stay.
He said: “You get an allowance as you would with any normal job.
"If you have to travel for work you wouldn’t be expected to pay for travel and accommodation.
READ MORE: Chris Green on Westhoughton Golf Club flooding
“I used to be an engineer and I’d travel all over the UK and all over the world and no-one would expect me to pay for that. It’s the same for MPs.”
With regards to his choice to expense his hotel stays, Mr Green said: “There are two routes you can take.
"Some have a flat or a house in London and there are good reasons to do that – for convenience, or if they have a family in case they want to come and stay with them.
“Staying in a hotel is cheaper overall because you only pay for it when you’re there.
"During the winter and summer breaks the taxpayer isn’t paying for my hotel room.”
He added: “It’s perfectly reasonable to have a flat in London.
"It’s unreasonable to say that someone should have to pay council tax at home and on your work accommodation.”
If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at lewis.finney@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @lewisfinney18.
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