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Local government minister, John Healey, has become the first member of the Government to publish a full breakdown of his expenses. Mr Healey claimed £35,225 against his parliamentary allowance in the first quarter of 2008/09. The MP for Wentworth in South Yorkshire is among a minority of parliamentarians who recently voted against keeping their expenses secret. Mr Healey's audited figures showed that between April and July he spent £21,891 on staffing costs, £4,337 on his office, £4,728 on travel, £3,668 on additional costs and £602 on communications. ‘If constituents want to know how much it costs for me to do my job as their MP, I believe this information should be available to them,' Mr Healey said. Despite recent furore over the additional costs allowance – dubbed the ‘John Lewis list' following lavish spending on furniture by some MPs – parliamentarians are not required to publish full breakdowns of their taxpayer-funded spending. MPs are entitled to claim annual fees of £22,193 on office costs, £100, 205 on staff, £10,000 on communications and £24,001 on additional costs. All travel expenses are covered. But Mr Healey's transparency may concern some of his colleagues. Home secretary, Jacqui Smith; culture secretary, Andy Burnham; and Northern Ireland secretary, Shaun Woodward, all voted against scrapping the additional cost allowance earlier this year. Other senior Labour MPs are known to oppose disclosure of their spending.

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FINANCE

Healey comes clean over expenses

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