64. Letter to Ms Julie Kirkbride from
the Commissioner, 17 February 2010
Thank you for your letter of 11 February responding
to mine of 26 January in respect of this complaint about the claims
you made against the Additional Costs Allowance for your constituency
home.
I was most grateful to receive this. The issues I
am to resolve include whether your brother lived rent free in
your Bromsgrove home as in effect his main residence and whether
the claims you made for mortgage interest for the additional mortgage
you raised on your constituency home to build a third bedroom
used by your brother were necessary for the purpose of enabling
you to perform your parliamentary duties. These were specific
allegations raised by the complainant and, as explained in previous
correspondence I consider that it would be right for me to resolve
them. In doing so, of course, I would be happy to take account
of any considerations which you believe to be relevant in the
auditing and appeal processes undertaken by Sir Thomas Legg and
Sir Paul Kennedy.
I note that you do not have any information about
the amount of time your brother spent in your constituency property
in order to provide childcare for your son or how often someone
else performed that role. I note too that your brother spent occasional
time, including nights, in your constituency residence when you
and your son were not there.
In view of the information you have provided, I think
it would be helpful for me now to seek evidence from your brother
and I am accordingly writing to him. I will let you know when
I have received his response and show it to you.
In the meantime, it would be helpful if you could
clarify the following points for me:
1. You have told me that your brother covered childcare
in your Bromsgrove home on Friday and Saturday. It would be helpful
to know, as requested at point 6 of my letter of 26 January, who
covered childcare on the other nights of the week during the recesses.
2. Did you pay your brother or any of your other
child carers for their childcare work? If so, I am unclear why
you have no record of the childcare work undertaken for you. (I
see you are reported by the BBC on 24 May 2009[201]
as saying that you do not pay your brother—but I am not
clear whether other child carers are paid.)
3. What childcare arrangements you have for when
your son is in London, where, as I understand it, he goes to school?
I see from the BBC report of 24 May that you are quoted as saying
that your brother stays in your London home from time to time
to help look after your son. As far as I can see, you have not
so far referred to his staying in London in your evidence to me.
4. Could you also let me know the normal pattern
of your overnight stays in your London home, during term time
and in the school holidays and parliamentary recesses?
5. Could you let me know whether your brother made
any payments, in money or in kind, for the time he spent in your
constituency property?
It would be helpful if you could let me have a response
to this letter within the next two weeks. I will be back in touch
anyway when I hear from your brother.
Subject to those responses, I hope I will then have
enough information and understanding of the position to seek the
advice of the Department of Resources. Like you, I would like
to bring this inquiry to a conclusion as soon as I fairly can.
17 February 2010
201 WE 65 Back
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