Suella Braverman has 'milked' the expenses system to get taxpayers to foot her household bills while living rent-free with her parents when not there.
An investigation by the Mirror found the Home Secretary had claimed nearly £25,000 in five years for her London house. She claimed the expenses to cover energy and other costs for her main home while staying rent-free at her parents’ house when she visits her constituency, the investigation revealed.
Such handouts are designed to prevent MPs who live outside London from being out of pocket because they have to run two homes – but Ms Braverman used them to pay the household bills on her £1.2million family pad in Bushey in Hertfordshire. This is within the rules but not 'in the spirit' of them, one MP said.
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The hard line Tory, who earns £67,505 on top of her MP salary of £84,144, has been accused of exploiting a loophole in the system. Ms Braverman, who recently railed against a 'Benefits Street culture', told watchdogs she 'fully funds' the home she stays at in Fareham in Hampshire.
But she failed to mention it is her parents’ house and so costs her nothing in rent. Former Committee on Standards in Public Life chairman Sir Alistair Graham said: “This looks like an attempt to game the rules to maximise benefit.
“She says she ‘fully funds’ her constituency accommodation but does not reveal it is owned by her parents. Those are weasel words, she needs to explain what she means.
“Is she manipulating the rules to strengthen her household income? It has the smell of a conspiracy to do that.”
Lib Dem Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain added: “If these reports are true, this would seem difficult to justify. Even if it is within the rules, it isn’t within the spirit of the rules.
"It just shows how out of touch some Conservative MPs have become.” A source close to Ms Braverman would not say if she contributed to the costs of the house her parents Uma and Christie own.
He said this was a 'private matter', but confirmed she paid them no rent. He added: “The Home Secretary has chosen not to rent a property in her constituency for which she would be entitled to claim £17,000 a year, therefore saving the taxpayer money .
“Instead, when she became MP for Fareham, she and her family made a home in her constituency so she could stay there. She doesn’t claim a penny from the taxpayer on this home.”
Braverman’s mileage claims suggest that during the first half of last year she spent on average three nights a month in her constituency. But a source said: “The Home Secretary has often travelled to Fareham without claiming mileage.”
The system was overhauled in 2010 after the expenses scandal at the time. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority claims 'like the rest of us, MPs pay utility bills for their own homes' because 'IPSA pays utility bills for non-London MPs when they stay away from home'.
They can claim for costs 'such as energy, utilities, internet and council tax'. The rules state: “MPs still need to fully fund the accommodation in one of the locations themselves.”
IPSA confirmed that could cover MPs who stay for free with family or friends, leaving them able to put in for utility bills on their main or only home. Therefore Ms Braverman can claim bills on average of nearly £500 a month at the house she and her husband Rael share with their two children in Hertfordshire, in commutable reach of the Commons.
In 2020/2021 it appears she was able to claim £5,154.57, almost all her bills. The annual cap for 'additional costs' was raised last year from £5,480 to £5,910 and is due to go up next year to £6,330.
The most recently published expenses claims for last summer show Ms Braverman is claiming around £630 a month. She is likely to reach the maximum before the end of the year but up to 80 per cent of her household bills this year could be funded by the taxpayer.
Since November 2017, she has claimed up to £5,500 a year on a flat in Pimlico, Central London, then a house, also in the capital, believed to be Rael’s and the Bushey place. Ms Braverman, who is on a mission to deport asylum seekers in the UK, has also vowed to crack down on the benefits 'culture'.
The rules
- MPs’ second homes are not a luxury or a “perk”, they are necessary for an MP to do their job.
- The IPSA Accommodation budget is there to ensure that MPs are not out of pocket from having to work in two locations, London and constituency
- We will cover associated costs for non-London MPs who own their second accommodation. This compensates for the additional costs of increased use such as energy, utilities, internet and council tax. We do not pay MPs mortgages or mortgage interest.
What Suella Braverman has claimed
May 2015: Braverman was elected MP for Fareham, Hampshire, and started claiming £995 a month in rent for a home in her constituency.
March 2017: Parents Uma and Christie Fernandes buy Fareham house for £287,500 mortgage free. Family home in North London is registered as a House of Multiple Occupancy.
Sept 2017: Braverman stopped rent in Fareham, started claiming costs of London flat, telling IPSA: “I fully fund accommodation in Fareham. I claim solely for bills associated with my London flat when in Westminster.”
June 2019: Moved out of flat and rented it out. Flipped expenses from August to London house, believed to be that of husband Rael, who she married the previous year. Told IPSA: “I ceased to claim for the rental of my Fareham property in 2017 and claim solely for the utility bills associated with my London home. I do not claim for any costs at my Fareham home.”
July 2020: Flipped her accommodation claim again to house in Bushey she bought with her husband for £1.2million. Stopped providing a commentary to IPSA. Continued to claim running costs on the home with the most recent bills published by IPSA for August 2022.
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