Speaker's House gets £700,000 makeover

Published on Saturday 29 March 2008 19:28

THE official residence of Commons Speaker Michael Martin has received improvements costing more than £700,000 since he took the job.

More than 100,000 a year has been spent on average on items including furniture, art and air conditioning for the Grade 1-listed apartments.

The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act and come as the Speaker is under intense pressure over MPs' expenses.

They show that 148,900 has been spent on furniture, 191,000 on an air-conditioning system, 13,000 on art and 291,000 on "building restoration and refurbishment" in Speaker's House.

In total, 724,000 has been spent on the residence – which also includes the State Rooms of the Palace of Westminster – since 2001.

Martin was elected Speaker in October 2000.

Another 992,000 has been spent on Speaker's Garden, although most of the costs have gone on improving security since 9/11.

Former independent MP Martin Bell, the anti-sleaze campaigner, said he was "shocked".

"The Speaker should be setting a good example and he is not – MPs have got to get their palace in order," he said. "You run out of words to describe his behaviour."

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the disclosure proved that Martin was the wrong person to be heading a review of MPs' expenses.

He said: "The Speaker is well paid and receives generous allowances as well as a free house, so it is excessive for him to be billing so heavily for furniture, art and cooling systems."

Martin's spokeswoman said the spending was part of a rolling programme of improvements which were commissioned by the Parliamentary Estates Directorate. She stressed that the house included more than just Martin's grace and favour apartment.

Martin has already come under fire for claiming more than 75,000 of second homes allowance on his Glasgow property, for which he has no mortgage.

His wife has claimed thousands of pounds in expenses for taxis, the disclosure of which led to a row which caused Martin's previous spokesperson, Mike Granatt, to quit.