FORMER West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett submitted the largest expense claim of any West Country MP last year, according to figures released last week. Mr Burnett, who stood down at the May general election, filed a total claim of £145,526 in expenses for the year 2004/05 ? more than the national average claimed by MPs, of £122,677. Mr Burnett?s largest individual claim was for staff, at £74,214 ? but he also claimed £22,836 in travel expenses. Mr Burnett, who last year said he ?broadly agreed? with the modernising recommendations of the salary review board, defended his substantial claim, saying his constituency was ?by far? the largest in the region: ?It?s by far the biggest geographically as well as numerically ? it stretches from Bere Alston, Meavy up to Westward Ho! and Hartland and from Lifton to Crockernwell. ?You have to do an enormous amount of travelling if you are going to do the job properly. I travelled more than 2,000 miles a month in my constituency ? you have to make yourself available, you can?t sit in a town in the south and expect people to travel to see you from 50 miles away in the north.? Mr Burnett said staff were vital in helping him deal effectively with the huge volume of work generated by his large constituency. He also said finding office accommodation with disabled access in Okehampton, the centre of the constituency, had proved very difficult. He had spent 18 months in expensive accommodation while looking for a permanent base ? this period was also accounted for in last year?s expense claim.
