Jacqui Smith - Standards and Privileges Committee Contents



51.  LETTER TO THE COMMISSIONER FROM RT HON JACQUI SMITH MP, 22 JUNE 2009

You ask for an explanation as to why amounts for event charges varied month by month when I made my claims for my Virgin Media package. This is because the package comprises a basic package and then additional charges for events such as films. I do not have copies of the itemised bills for these months.

You ask about the duplication of the 25 April 2008 bill for the two subsequent months. I had thought that providing a recurring copy of an invoice for a typical month would be acceptable. However, the Fees Office contacted me by letter on 11 November to say that they needed month by month invoices so any further claims were made against individual invoices. No adjustment was asked for and I am afraid I took the request for "receiving the relevant documents in the near future" to refer to subsequent claims not those covering duplicated months. In hindsight, this led to claims in these two months that may not have exactly matched the actual expenditure. It is, of course, not clear as to whether it resulted in a lower or higher claim than would otherwise have been submitted.

What is clear is that any potential over-claim was repaid when I made my £400 payment to the Fees Office on 28 March 2009.

I hope that you find this explanation helpful.

22 June 2009


 
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