AMs’ £400k expense bill

Aug 14 2008 by Judith Phillips, North Wales Weekly News

NORTH Wales AMs are among those claiming a total of more than £400,000 a year between them to subsidise second homes in Cardiff.

The issue of Assembly members receiving additional living cost allowances on top of their pay follows the public storm in March when most of them accepted an inflation busting pay rise of almost £4,000 – or 8.3% – bringing their annual salary to £50,692.

Aberconwy Plaid Cymru AM Gareth Jones was one of a handful of Senedd members who felt uncomfortable about the size of the pay rise and promised to donate the first two years of the increase to local charities.

But he said yesterday that he felt justified in claiming a special allowance of £11,338 to meet his living costs in Cardiff.

“I have a flat in Cardiff and the amount I claimed was to furnish it and to pay interest on a mortgage,” he said. “If I didn’t have a flat I would have to book bed and breakfast for a minimum of three nights a week and in Cardiff that runs at about £100 a night.”

When he was first elected to the Assembly he says the living allowance was unrealistic.

“In my first term my outgoings were more than the allowances and they have since been increased to reflect this,” he said. “For a North Wales AM it is necessary to have a base in Cardiff and my claim for allowances only covers the essentials. However, I agree it is right and proper that our pay and allowances should come under public scrutiny.”

Assembly presiding officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas, who lives in the Conwy Valley, was one of those who claimed the maximum allowance of £12,500.

But he says it is inappropriate for him to comment on this because he has instituted an independent inquiry into AMs’ pay and expenses headed by Swansea University don Sir Roger Jones.

Clwyd-West AM Darren Millar claimed a total of £11,041, which includes £1,437 a month rent, plus a mortgage application fee and valuation of £449. Mr Millar was unavailable for comment.

judith.phillips