£300,000 petty cash for 60 MPs

£300,000 petty cash for 60 MPs

Sixty MPs arranged for nearly £300,000 of taxpayers' money to be wired directly to their bank accounts without having to produce any form of receipt, it has been claimed.

The politicians all set up what were in effect standing orders of up to £250 a month over a four year period from 2004 to 2008.

This was the maximum amount of petty cash allowed by the Fees Office without needing a receipt. This figure was reduced to just £25 last year.

MPs who claimed petty cash this way included former defence minister Des Browne, former sports minister Richard Caborn and the new Speaker John Bercow, according to a Freedom of Information request by The Sunday Times.

60 MPs 'arranged for petty cash to be wired direct every month' (Daily Telegraph, 3 August 2009)