MSP expenses cost taxpayers £12.2m in past year
Media training skills, hotel stays in Edinburgh and even the cost of a new kitchen were among the claims that were met by taxpayers in 2012-13.
The bill for external consultants and contractors hired by MSPs topped £50,000 while thousands of pounds in taxi fares also came out of the public purse – including many short journeys from politicians’ Edinburgh homes to the parliament at Holyrood.
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Hide AdThe biggest bill came from Orkney MSP Liam McArthur who claimed almost £46,000, but this was mainly down to travelling costs associated with his island constituency.
The lowest bill was from independent MSP Margo MacDonald who represents the Lothian seat and charged just £2,627.
Disgraced former MSP Bill Walker racked up thousands of pounds of hotel bills in Edinburgh, despite his Dunfermline constituency lying less then 20 miles from the capital.
The 71-year-old claimed for dozens of overnight stays in the capital at more than £100 a night. Walker lives in Alloa, which is outside his constituency but still less than 40 miles from Edinburgh. He was entitled to claim for overnight stays in Edinburgh and chalked up just over £2,600 in hotel expenses, including hundreds of pounds in evening meals and expenses.
Walker faces sentencing on Friday after being found guilty of 23 charges, including attacks on three of his ex-wives after a controversial trial earlier this year. He also claimed £259 for emergency first aid at work courses for two members of his staff, as well two claims of £50 to buy new pairs of glasses for staff.
The bill for outside contractors and consultancy was £50,551, with Nationalist Chic Brodie forking out more than £19,000 on this as part of his staff costs.
Thousands of pounds were also shelled out on media training for politicians and their staff. George Adam, Jim Eadie and Gordon MacDonald were among the many SNP MSPs to claim for media skills courses.
The cost of taxis to ferry MSPs about topped £22,000. There were hundreds of fares of just a few pounds, which included many journeys from MSPs’ taxpayer-funded Edinburgh homes to work in the parliament.
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Hide AdA Scottish Parliament spokesman said: “The decrease in expenses of more than £500,000 is a reflection of one-off election costs in the previous year but also that 2012-13 represented year-two of a two-year pay and expenses freeze for MSPs.”
MSPs spent £6,720 on tea, coffee and biscuits for meetings and £7,643 on hotel evening meals.
They also claimed £729 for refreshments while staying in accommodation in Edinburgh, with Labour MSPs Mary Fee and Margaret McDougall claiming a respective £181.85 and £129.65.
A total of £15,861 was spent on training MSPs’ staff.
The SNP’s Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North, claimed £1,584 for a kitchen unit, worktop, towel ring and new door in May last year. In June alone last year, Alasdair Allan, MSP for North East Scotland, claimed £76 for tea, coffee and biscuits.
MSP for Clydeside Aileen Campbell claimed £154 for a fruit buffet at her office and minister for community safety, Roseanna Cunningham, claimed £504 for her mobile phone bill in one month.
The salary, pension and national insurance contributions of those employed by MSPs in 2012-13 was £8,915,847.
Expenditure on childcare vouchers was £24,032 and security-related and disability provision expenditure was £17,177.
First Minister Alex Salmond claimed £11,637 on expenses such as office rent, staff mileage, newspaper subscriptions and phone bills. Labour leader Johann Lamont spent £18,434 which includes claims for taxis, hotel accommodation in Edinburgh and office costs.
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Hide AdConservative leader Ruth Davidson claimed back £16,119 in expenses including £4,899 for hotel stays, while Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie claimed £13,775.
What your MSP claimed
Jamie Stone (LD)Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross£38
Robert Brown (LD) Glasgow£61
Margo MacDonald (Ind) Lothian£2,627
Jayne Baxter, right, (Lab)Mid Scotland and Fife £3,133
Gavin Brown (Cons) Lothian£3,802
Kezia Dugdale (Lab) Lothians£3,990
David McLetchie (Cons) Lothian£5,071
Sarah Boyack (Lab) Lothian£8,754
Marco Biagi (SNP) Edinburgh Central£9,447
Neil Findlay (Lab) Lothian £9,972
Annabelle Ewing (SNP) Mid Scotland and Fife£10,098
Malcolm Chisholm (Lab)Edinburgh North and Leith£10,575
John Wilson (SNP) Central Scotland£11,621
Alex Salmond (SNP) Aberdeenshire East£11,637
Colin Beattie (SNP) Midlothian North and Musselburgh £11,964
Shona Robison (SNP) Dundee City East£12,038
John Swinney (SNP) Perthshire North £12,342
John Park (Lab) Mid Scotland and Fife £12,524
Graeme Pearson (Lab) South Scotland£12,889
Helen Eadie (Lab) Cowdenbeath£12,953
Annabel Goldie (Cons) West Scotland£13,004
Brian Adam (SNP) Aberdeen Donside£13,342
Colin Keir (SNP) Edinburgh Western £13,625
Clare Baker (Lab) Mid-Scotland and Fife £13,660
Willie Rennie (LD) Mid-Scotland and Fife£13,775
Alison Johnstone (Green) Lothians £13,798
Siobhan McMahon (Lab) Central Scotland£13,904
Elizabeth Smith (Cons) Mid-Scotland and Fife£14,585
Fiona Hyslop (SNP) Linlithgow£14,665
Drew Smith (Lab) Glasgow£14,682
David Torrance (Lab) Kirkcaldy£14,811
Clare Adamson (SNP) Central Scotland£15,061
Mark Griffin (Lab) Central Scotland £15,260
Anne McTaggart (Lab) Glasgow£15,415
Angela Constance (SNP) Almond Valley£15,498
Humza Yousaf (SNP) Glasgow£15,567
Hanzala Malik (Lab) Glasgow£15,769
Richard Lyle (SNP) Central Scotland£16,086
Ruth Davidson, left, (Cons) Glasgow£16,119
Roderick Campbell (SNP) North East Fife£16,364
Fergus Ewing (SNP) Inverness and Nairn£16,364
Gordon MacDonald (SNP) Edinburgh Pentlands£16,665
Richard Simpson (Lab) Mid-Scotland and Fife £16,765
Jenny Marra (Lab) North-east Scotland £17,168
Roseanna Cunningham (SNP)Perthshire South and Kinross-shire£17,279
Iain Gray (Lab) East Lothian £17,438
Murdo Fraser (Cons) Mid Scotland and Fife£17,612
Stewart Stevenson (SNP) Banffshire and Buchan Coast £17,912
Tricia Marwick (Ind) Mid Fife and Glenrothes£18,038
Richard Baker (Lab) North East Scotland£18,070
Neil Bibby (Lab) West Scotland£18,199
Aileen Campbell (SNP) Clydesdale£18,399
Kenny MacAskill (SNP) Edinburgh Eastern£18,419
Johann Lamont (Lab) Glasgow Pollok£18,434
John Pentland (Lab) Motherwell and Wishaw£18,724
Christine Grahame (SNP) Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale£18,874
Nanette Milne (Cons) North-east Scotland £18,883
Richard Lochhead (SNP) Moray£19,381
Jim Eadie (SNP) Edinburgh Southern £19,401
Duncan McNeil (Cons) Greenock and Inverclyde£19,420
Jim Hume (LD) South Scotland£19,564
Margaret Mitchell (Cons) Central Scotland£19,860
Adam Ingram (SNP)Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley £19,906
Michael Matheson (SNP) Falkirk East£19,990
Bob Doris (SNP) Glasgow£20,067
Rob Gibson (SNP) Caithness, Sutherland and Ross £20,271
Sandra White (SNP) Glasgow Kelvin£20,494
Michael McMahon (Lab) Uddingston and Bellshill£20,640
John Mason (SNP) Glasgow Shettleston£20,858
Aileen McLeod (SNP) South Scotland£21,309
Joe Fitzpatrick (SNP) Dundee City West£21,509
Fiona McLeod (SNP) Strathkelvin and Bearsden£21,590
Jackson Carlaw (Cons) West Scotland£21,604
James Kelly (Lab) Rutherglen £21,827
Gil Paterson (SNP)Clydebank and Milngavie£22,015
Elaine Murray (Lab) Dumfries-shire£22,229
Paul Wheelhouse (SNP) South Scotland£22,384
Patricia Ferguson (Lab) Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn£22,436
Jamie Hepburn (SNP)Cumbernauld and Kilsyth£22,510
Elaine Smith (Lab) Coatbridge and Chryston£22,534
Bruce Crawford (SNP) Stirling£23,150
Keith Brown (SNP) Clackmannanshire and Dunblane£23,577
Bill Kidd (SNP) Glasgow Anniesland£23,670
Mary Fee (Lab) West Scotland£23,720
Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Glasgow Southside£23,888
Margaret McCulloch (Lab)Central Scotland£24,206
Mary Scanlon (Cons) Highlands and Islands£24,691
Derek Mackay (SNP) Renfrewshire North and West£24,924
Paul Martin (Lab) Glasgow Provan£24,958
Bill Walker, above, (Ind/SNP) Dunfermline£25,008
Christina McKelvie (SNP) Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse£25,094
Hugh Henry (Lab) Renfrewshire South£25,269
Margaret McDougall (Lab) West of Scotland£25,359
James Dornan (SNP) Cathcart£25,371
Stewart Maxwell (SNP) West Scotland£25,510
Maureen Watt (SNP) Aberdeen South and North Kincardine£25,532
John Finnie (Ind) Highlands and Islands£26,129
Patrick Harvie, below, (Green) Glasgow£26,144
John Scott (Cons) Ayr£26,325
Stuart McMillan (SNP) West Scotland£26,429
Jackie Baillie (Lab) Dumbarton£26,832
George Adam (SNP) Paisley£27,151
David Stewart (Lab) Highlands and Islands£27,198
Rhoda Grant (Lab) Highlands and Islands£27,441
Alison McInnes (LD) North-east Scotland£27,607
Kevin Stewart (SNP) Aberdeen Central£28,071
Linda Fabiani (SNP) East Kilbride£28,329
Claudia Beamish (Lab) South of Scotland£28,636
David Thompson (SNP) Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch£28,680
Michael Russell (SNP) Argyll and Bute£28,876
Margaret Burgess (SNP) Cunninghame South£29,238
Alex Johnstone (Cons)North East Scotland£29,338
Willie Coffey (SNP) Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley£29,435
Graeme Dey (SNP) Angus South£29,653
Mark McDonald (SNP) Aberdeen Donside£29,881
Nigel Don (SNP) Angus North and Mearns£30,005
Angus MacDonald (SNP) Falkirk East£30,066
Dennis Robertson (SNP) Aberdeenshire West£30,086
John Lamont (Cons) South of Scotland£30,386
Alex Fergusson (Cons)Galloway and West Dumfries£30,567
Mike MacKenzie (SNP) Highlands and Islands£30,780
Jamie McGrigor (Cons)Highlands and Islands£31,737
Alex Neil (SNP) Airdrie and Shotts£31,925
Lewis Macdonald (Lab) North-east Scotland£32,381
Alasdair Allan (SNP) Western Isles£32,751
Joan McAlpine (SNP) South Scotland£33,741
Jean Urquhart (Ind/SNP) Highlands and Islands£34,973
Kenneth Gibson (SNP) Cunninghame North£37,976
Chic Brodie (SNP) South of Scotland£39,531
Tavish Scott (LD) Shetland Islands£40,967
Ken Macintosh (Lab) Eastwood£42,474
Liam McArthur, left, (LD) Orkney Islands£46,931