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AMs bought iPods with allowances AMs bought iPods with allowances
(31 minutes later)
Two Conservative members of the Welsh Assembly bought iPods on their taxpayer-funded allowances, it has been revealed. Two Conservative members of the Welsh Assembly bought iPods on taxpayer-funded expenses, it was revealed.
Opposition leader Nick Bourne and fellow Tory Alun Cairns submitted the portable music players, worth a combined £398, as office costs.Opposition leader Nick Bourne and fellow Tory Alun Cairns submitted the portable music players, worth a combined £398, as office costs.
Mr Cairns also bought his office a £250 Dyson vacuum cleaner. Meanwhile Labour husband and wife team Huw Lewis AM and Lynne Neagle AM claimed £22,298 between them.
A breakdown of AMs' claims for their offices, living allowances and travel expenses was issued by the assembly.A breakdown of AMs' claims for their offices, living allowances and travel expenses was issued by the assembly.
Tory AM Nick Ramsay bought his office a television, a stand and television insurance worth £814.98. Seven AMs claimed the full £12,000 allowed for second home expenses, and a further 12 claimed close to the limit during the 2006-07 financial year.
However, several AMs claimed either nothing at all, or in the low hundreds for the year.
Nick Bourne (left) and Alun Cairns claimed iPods worth a combined £398.
Every claim has to be signed off by the Fees Office of the Assembly Commission, and there is no suggestion that any claim is inappropriate according to the rules laid down by the assembly.
Members are entitled to allowances for second homes in Cardiff because they are away from their constituency homes during the week while attending the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.
In addition to claiming for an iPod, Mr Bourne also used his additional costs allowance to buy a £120 trouser press, and has claimed a total of more than £5,000 over the last two years on his bathroom.
And South West Wales AM Alun Cairns also bought his office a £250 Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Televisions
Tory AM Nick Ramsay bought his office a television, a stand and television insurance costing £814.98.
An earlier batch of second-home expenses, released in August, showed he spent £977.95 on a Sony LCD television and surround-sound system.An earlier batch of second-home expenses, released in August, showed he spent £977.95 on a Sony LCD television and surround-sound system.
Local Government Minister Brian Gibbons spent £16.50 on a Royal British Legion wreath, his office costs show. The former Conservative AM Laura Ann Jones bought a television costing more than £1,000 in January 2007. She lost her seat in the May 2007 election.
More follows... A Conservative party spokesman said there was no information on what had happened to the television.
And Local Government Minister Brian Gibbons, Labour, spent £16.50 on a Royal British Legion wreath, his office costs show.
'Improve transparency'
A review is currently being carried out into AMs' pay and expenses by Sir Roger Jones, Swansea University's pro-chancellor.
A panel set up after a controversial 8.3% pay rise for AMs earlier in the year, has been gathering the views of the public.
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said the party wanted AMs' allowances to be released on a more regular basis.
"We believe that it would further improve the transparency of the system to release this sort of information on a more regular basis," they said.
"We have asked the Assembly Commission to fully consider the cost and workload implications of routinely releasing the information every three months.
"This way, the public can be kept fully informed of the way their AM is carrying out their duties."
A Welsh Conservative Party spokesman said it had "always supported greater transparency in the work of the National Assembly and by Assembly Members".
He added: "Today's publication of AMs' allowances is an important part of that.
"All of these claims are legitimate and within the rules. We await the outcome of Sir Roger Jones' review and will consider his recommendations in detail."