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Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

MLAs claim almost £8m in expenses during collapse of Stormont power-sharing

Stormont MLAs claimed almost £8million in expenses last year during the collapse of power-sharing.

Their expenditure hit more than £7.8million over the period between April and December, the latest Assembly records show.

Most of the spending was on staff costs at more than £6million, while more than £1million was incurred on constituency office expenses such as rent and energy bills.

Read more: DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson sets up panel to consult on Windsor Framework deal

Almost £200,000 was claimed by MLA for travel costs, including more than £152,000 for travel from their constituencies to the Stormont Assembly - during a period when it has not been functioning.

Some 19 MLAs who stepped down or lost their seats in the election last May received in total more than £433,000 in "resettlement" payments.

They also claimed overall more than £52,000 in "winding up expenditure", which is paid to former MLAs to allow them to bring their Assembly business to an orderly close.

One MLA, the DUP's Stephen Dunne, had already used up his annual £7,000 constituency office expenses allowance by December - three months before the end of the financial year.

The North Down MLA's spending included £1,652 on electrical cables and sockets, and more than £466 on renting car parking spaces at a church, according to the Assembly records.

A DUP spokesman said: "A significant proportion of the costs incurred during 2022/23 related to the relocation of Mr Dunne's constituency office. This included electrical and other work carried out which will be non-recurring."

Under Stormont rules, MLAs can recover a maximum of £7,000 a year in "constituency office operating expenses", which includes heating, electric, phone and internet bills.

In January, Assembly officials said that by the middle of the month two of the 90 MLAs had reached their £7,000 limit, but did not disclose their names.

It said that "once the maximum amount has been claimed no further funding is available".

The spending emerged amid rising energy bills during the cost-of-living crisis, which Stormont sources said had placed added pressure on MLA budgets for their constituency offices.

Last year, it emerged the Assembly had run up an electricity bill of almost £300,000 over the current financial year at a time when it has not been sitting.

Although Stormont has not been properly functioning for the past year, Parliament Buildings have continued to be used by MLAs and civil servants for various meetings and events.

The power-sharing institutions collapsed when the DUP withdrew in protest against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.

A new deal in a bid to resolve disputes over Irish Sea trade checks, the Windsor Framework, has since been agreed between the UK and European Union.

The DUP is continuing to assess the agreement before reaching a "collective" conclusion on whether to end its Stormont boycott.

Since the beginning of January, MLA salaries were reduced by 27.5% to £37,337 due to Stormont's collapse.

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