Suella Braverman accused of exploiting loophole to claim £25,000 for energy bills

A recent investigation reported that Suella Braverman has been getting the taxpayer to foot her energy bills and other household costs totaling almost £25,000 over the last five years. The money Braverman has claimed appears to be for her London accommodation whilst she lives rent-free at her parent’s home when visiting her constituency.

The revelation has caused considerable backlash for the Home Secretary with one fellow MP saying the expense claims, whilst technically permitted, are not ‘in the spirit’ of the rules, as per The Mirror.

IPSA accommodation budget

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) accommodation budget is designed to prevent MPs who live outside London from incurring additional costs because they have to run two homes. However, the report suggests Braverman has apparently used the money to pay the household bills on her £1.2 million family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire.

Whilst she is well within her rights to claim expenses for her accommodation in London, the fact that she never revealed the flat in Fareham is owned by her parents is what is causing consternation.

Lib Dem Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain commented, as per Manchester Evening News:

If these reports are true, this would seem difficult to justify. Even if it is within the rules, it isn’t within the spirit of the rules.

Braverman, who earns£67,505 in addition to her MP’s salary of £84,144, has now been accused of exploiting a loophole in the system. The allegation is particularly damning as Braverman has spoken out so vehemently against 'Benefits Street culture'.

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2010 Expenses scandal

After the 2010 expenses scandal, the system was overhauled but MPs can still claim expenses for things like energy, utilities, internet and council tax.

In 2020/21, Braverman was able to claim £5154.57. The most recently published figures show Braverman is claiming around £630 a month.

A source close to Braverman confirmed she paid her parents no rent for staying in the property but would not say if she contributed towards the expenses. Defending Braverman, the source said, as per The Mirror:

The Home Secretary has chosen not to rent a property in her constituency for which she would be entitled to claim £17,000 a year, therefore saving the taxpayer money .

Instead, when she became MP for Fareham, she and her family made a home in her constituency so she could stay there. She doesn’t claim a penny from the taxpayer on this home.

The constant flipping of expenses over the years makes a for a complicated narrative but here is a breakdown of Braverman’s property claims since 2015, as per The National:

• May 2015: Braverman was elected MP for Fareham, Hampshire, and started claiming £995 a month in rent for a home in her constituency.
• March 2017: Braverman's parents buy Fareham house for £287,500 mortgage free. The family home in North London is registered as a House of Multiple Occupancy.
• Sept 2017: Braverman stopped rent in Fareham, started claiming costs of London flat, telling IPSA: ‘I fully fund accommodation in Fareham. I claim solely for bills associated with my London flat when in Westminster.’
• June 2019: Moved out of the flat and rented it out. Flipped expenses from August to London house, believed to be that of husband Rael, who she married the previous year. She told IPSA: ‘I ceased to claim for the rental of my Fareham property in 2017 and claim solely for the utility bills associated with my London home. I do not claim any costs at my Fareham home.’
• July 2020: Flipped her accommodation claim again to the house in Bushey she bought with her husband for £1.2million. Stopped providing commentary to IPSA. Continued to claim running costs on the home with the most recent bills published by IPSA for August 2022.

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Sources used:
- The Mirror 'Suella Braverman claims £25,000 to pay household bills after 'milking loophole''

- Manchester Evening News 'Suella Braverman claims £25,000 in expenses for household bills after 'milking loophole''

- The National 'Suella Braverman 'milking loophole' with £25,000 expenses claim'