27/11/2012

Scottish MSPs' Yearly Expenses Total £13m

MSPs ran up an expenses bill of almost £13m last year, according to figures released by Holyrood.

This shows an increase of 8%.

The figures amount to a total of £12,818,835 being claimed in 2011-12, indicating an increase of £969,436 on the £11,849,399 claimed in 2010-11.

The figure also included pay-offs for staff of 48 politicians who did not stand for re-election or lost their seats in 2011.

Expenses have been frozen at the levels of 2010/11 until 31 March 2013.

The statistics released by the Scottish government showed Labour MSP Anne McTaggart spent the most on books at £141. She bought titles such as Public Speaking and Presentation for Dummies and several works on Labour politician Barbara Castle.

MSPs spent a total of £6,608.32 on hotel meals, while SNP MSPs spent £3,207 on courses for staff to train for writing effective press releases.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond claimed £13,361 on expenses. This shows the SNP leader claimed less than the leaders of the main parties in Scotland, such as Labour leader Johann Lamont who claimed £17,831, Conservative leader Ruth Davidson who claimed £20,440 and Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie who claimed £19,738.

A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: "Once election-related winding-up costs are set aside, we see a fall of more than £500,000 in members' expenses, which reflects the two-year pay and expenses freeze that Holyrood has in place.

"The parliament is on course to achieve a 12% saving over four years by 2014-15, which means its annual expenditure will be down by £9.5m in real terms."

(IT/GK)

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