Value for Money Update 2021

Through what has been an unprecedented and turbulent time worldwide, my team and I have continued to support people, families and businesses across South Northamptonshire through the coronavirus pandemic. I always aim to be as transparent as possible about my work as your representative, and how your money is spent, and I wanted to take this opportunity to provide an update on my Parliamentary expenses for the last financial year – April 2020 to March 2021.

Over the course of the year and including the many requests for advice and support related to the pandemic, my team and I have written over 23,000 emails and letters in response to enquiries from nearly 10,000 constituents. This period has been by far the busiest for casework in my eleven years as your Member of Parliament, and I’m incredibly grateful to my team for consistently going above and beyond while having to cope with lockdown and working from makeshift desks at home for a prolonged period.

Over the course of the year, I have kept up the work on my South Northamptonshire Manifesto – everything from fighting for compensation and mitigation for those affected by HS2 and working to bring forward the construction of the Towcester Relief Road, to getting the Farthinghoe bypass completed and reopening the Salcey Forest tree top walk. I post regular updates on my blog, so keep an eye out for the latest news there!

In Westminster, I am delighted to have been appointed as the Government’s Early Years Healthy Development Adviser. In this role, my team and I are being supported by a small team of civil servants from the Department for Health and Social Care to implement new policies across Whitehall to give every baby the best start for life.

I do not claim any expenses for accommodation in South Northamptonshire or Westminster, nor for my travel costs to and from Westminster nor for any costs incurred on my constituency business.

I run my office on a tight budget but with a view to making sure my team can deal with the workload efficiently - I am conscious of the need to be very careful with taxpayers' money. I spent £25,030.54 on office costs (including rent for my constituency office, printing, stationery, etc).