Anthony Steen
Additional Costs Allowance for Totnes MP Anthony Steen.
2007/2008:
Mortgage payments, interest only or rent, a claim of £12,265 was made but only £10,294 was paid.
April and July 2007: claim for additional costs totalling £17,324 but only £12,788 was paid, including £800 for food, £987 and £1,277 for utilities, and £960 for cleaning.
Fixing a shower leak £210; service of oil-fired boiler £199; service of an Aga and new wicks £106; £128 for an Aga repair; a bill for £469 for unspecified work carried out in March 2007.
Energy bills; £206 for 501 litres of fuel oil; a second bill of £214 for a similar quantity of oil; a third bill of £386 for 903 litres of oil.
Electricity bill £300; overdue bill of £676; water and sewerage charges £53;
£14.85 for keys;
TV licence £135
Gardening bills: £340 to lop a cherry tree; March £372 April £309; May £575; June £365.
Supplying scaffolding for chimney repairs: £763
£940 to supply scaffolding for four weeks to allow painting and decorating; £1,015 to decorate; £182 materials; limewash costing £86; rollers costing £117; unspecified maintenance of £552; £1,14 for sewage and drainage; £392 for a collapsed wall; £549 water supply work; and 41 hours of work costing £481.
Claims for 57 taxi rides costing between £5 and £20.
2006-2007
£6,164 in additional home costs with £5,880 earmarked for payment.
Gardening bills July £290, December £280; November £480 and £295.
Unspecified work costing £218 January; May £350; and June £521.
July maintenance and painting: £265; November: £140 maintenance to the cottage and £102 to the main house.
Internal repairs in August £146.
Fuel oil bills for central heating £216, £171, £384, £256 and £104.
June to July 06: claim of £3,970 including £720 food, £400 cleaning, and £224 repairs and maintenance.
£6,405 for repairs to 'serious' problem to his home.
In a hand-written note, he said the 25-year-old private sewage system of his South Hams home at Curtisknowle needed work and after investigation by experts, it was concluded the system was beyond repair.
Bills included £295 emergency call out; a three-and-a-half-hour investigation of the system cost £278; hire of a mini-digger £164; work cost £3,642; £1,473 maintenance work; overseeing repairs £176; ground works £257; restoration of the site £192.
Over April and May 2006 £5,853, including £400 food, £1,353 utilities; £400 cleaning; £494 service and maintenance; and £1,170 repairs.
Central heating oil: bills of £427 and £166.
2005-2006
January 2006: for £1,311 of which £1,190 was paid including £500 food, £600 cleaning and £211 oil for central heating.
July to November 2005: £3,764, which included £1,463 mortgage interest or rent; £850 food, £375 gas; £250 cleaning; £261 service and £265 in repairs including £103 unblocking a ball valve, £157 to replace and immersion heater.
August: tree surgery £2,620 including survey of drive-side laurel and rhododendron shrub, with a view to clearance to make the driveway safe; tree surgery to 10 beeches adjacent to a minor public road; cut down a hanging limb of a pine tree on the drive side over a road; carry out annual maintenance on 500 trees with in the grounds of Curtisknowle House; clear vegetation off garden structures; liaise with an un-named person or group following report on dangerous trees belonging to client.
Bill included £303 mileage, £530 advice and £1,680 for the work.
June to August 2005: £5,387 which included £1,614 in accommodation; £486 food; £480 cleaning.
Central heating gas bills £156 and £526, window cleaning £215, maintenance £467, washing machine repair £138.
Investigations of a suspected broken sewage pipe, which was later to lead to £6,405 for repairs, cost £129. Service of a gas boiler cost £141. Replacing a section of a pipe in the loft cost £228.
June: gardening £290.
June: £711 including central heating oil £264, £225, and £220.
April 2005 to June 2005: £3,759 and £4,389 were made although there are two different totals, £8,631 and £8,7587, both of which are struck through although there is no indication of who has done this.
Food £750, cleaning £580. Borehole repairs £1,465, repairs to sensors £258.
May: gardening, £545, £2,550 paid on a bill of £2,953 including mileage of £260 to remove a fallen tree and check on other tree.
2004-2005
April and May: £6,163 including food £240 and cleaning £210.
Service of an oil-fired boiler £802, other unspecified repairs and maintenance £904, repair and making good £311.
Repairs to the water supply £1,755, skip hire £117.
Repairs and maintenance £641, and £482. Water repair £1,358.
Fitting a dimmer switch and fluorescent fittings £597.
Borehole work £258, and more tree management £495.
Making fireplace furniture, which had to be polished and lacquered, £722.
Fitting a fireback to fireplace £578. Installing a thermostat £324.
Bills of £402, £373 and £656, for propane gas; electricity bills £660, £292, £498; and central heating oil £257, £154, £92 and £270.
4 Comments
by Bridget, Elstree
Friday, June 19 2009, 6:52PM
“Perhaps the reason there have been less comments regarding Mr Steen claims and rather more on Mr Sander's claims is because we still subconsciously expect Tories to be the racketeering gangster party but expect better from Labour and the Lib Dems. During the last 20 years all 3 main parties have emerged into one of the same with each supporting themselves at crucial times to prevent the back benchers steering their party towards what people want which is democracy of course. This is why less and less vote because although for many years a number of us have stated that they are "all the same", today they really are all racketeering gangsters, and the only answer is to vote for a fringe party to give them a total shock. In time they will grow up and no longer take you and your votes for granted. Get out there and vote but not for the Tories, Labour or the Lib Dems.”
by Diane, Torquay
Friday, June 19 2009, 2:02PM
“How can these claims have been made on Steen's MAIN home? I think it matters not anymore who is honourable and who is not. A few rotten apples have spoilt the entire harvest.......”
by Dizzy, Preston
Friday, June 19 2009, 1:49PM
“I haven't commented on this because I didn't want him to think that I was jealous!!”
by Rebecca, Brixham
Friday, June 19 2009, 12:28PM
“I thought the Additional Costs Allowance was for your second home, not your main home, which I suspect the property above is.
What I find bizarre is that there have been no comments this far on this story, but this time yesterday there were a dozen on Mr Sanders' much smaller claims. Is it because Steen's claims have already been exposed whereas Sanders was not considered newsworthy by the Telegraph. What does that tell us then, eh?
Perhaps someone can answer me this: since when did making fireplace furniture and then polishing and lacquering it become necessary costs incurred when staying overnight away from his main home.
If it wasn't for the recession, I'd move to Mr Sanders' bit of the Bay and at least the I 'd be sure that my MP wasn't on the take.
It's a good job Mr Steen has already chosen to not contest the next election, or the result might have been a very bitter pill to swallow indeed.”