Warrington's MPs spent more than £420,000 last year

The latest spending data has been released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which highlights how much money was spent by Andy Carter and Charlotte Nichols for the year 2021/22.

Overall, the total spend for both of Warrington's MPs comes to £420,125 - as this money is raised through the Government's tax revenue, this is public money.

Warrington's MPs spent almost half-a-million pounds of public money last year (Image: Parliament UK)

Andy Carter ranked 242nd out of 650 MPs for total expenditure - IPSA reported a total spend from Warrington South's Conservative MP of £228,349 for 2021/22.

Charlotte Nichols was ranked 412th out of 650 MPs - Ms Nichols spent £191,776 in the last financial year.

Both of Warrington's MPs have the same budget that they can spend for office costs, which was £27,470 in 2021/22.

Of that, Mr Carter spent £26,980.26, and Ms Nichols spent £6,907.38 - this means Mr Carter came in under budget by £489.74, and Ms Nichols was under budget by £20,562.62.

Warrington's MPs split their time between their constituencies and Westminster, meaning there are lots of travel expenses for them to cough up for; Charlotte Nichols was ranked number 412 of 650 MPs for the amount spent on transport, whereas Andy Carter was placed at number 84.

Ms Nichols spent £3,715.95 on travel costs in 2021/22, and Mr Carter spent £12,994.21 over the same period.

Ms Nichols' expenditure totalled £191,776.33 in the last financial year (Image: Parliament UK)

For the last financial year, both of the town's MPs had a budget of £204,300 to spend on staffing - the median minimum wage for a member of an MP's office is around £24,000 (according to IPSA), and staffing budgets include pension contributions.

In 2021/22, Charlotte Nichols spent £158,628.82 on staffing (465th out of 650), and Andy Carter spent £161,969.02 (435th out of 650) - meaning both the town's MPs came in under budget for staffing last year.

Regarding accommodation, non-London MPs are eligible to claim expenses for accommodation closer to Westminster - this works out cheaper for the taxpayer than constant hotel payments.

Warrington's MPs were given different budgets for accommodation spending last year.

Mr Carter told the Warrington Guardian that he welcomes transparency when it comes to public finances (Image: Newsquest)

Andy Carter came into the top 100 MPs for accommodation expenditure, spending £26,405.86 in 2021/22 - placing him at 91 of 650 for accommodation spending.

Ms Nichols spent £22,524.18, which ranked her as 205th out of 650 MPs.

However, as a proportion of accommodation budget spending, Ms Nichols spent more than Mr Carter.

The Warrington North Labour MP spent almost 97 per cent of her accommodation budget; Warrington South's Conservative MP spend less than 92 per cent of his accommodation budget.

Commenting on the Warrington Guardian's findings, Andy Carter MP said: "I welcome transparency, just before Christmas I called on the Government in a debate in the House of Commons to provide more timely reporting of ministerial interests so that there is no difference between the reporting of backbench MPs and those who hold roles in Government.

"I declare all donations and benefits where there is a monetary value, including when I attend events in my capacity as the MP for Warrington South and in my role as the chair of numerous Parliamentary groups."

Ms Nichols said she is always happy to field questions about how public money is being spent (Image: Newsquest)

Charlotte Nichols MP told the Warrington Guardian: "As ever, I am happy for my office expenditure to be published and analysed.

"These are the costs of running an office with staff to assist my work and help constituents who contact me about their problems, as well as the cost of working in Westminster for half of every week.

"Transparency is important to ensure confidence in our political system, and as always I am happy to answer any questions about this."

Claims for costs incurred by MPs are fully verified and regulated by the Independent Press Standards Authority (IPSA) - IPSA's website says: "Claims are subject to our three-tiered validation process. 

"All claims must be accompanied by evidence and claims found not to be compliant are not paid by IPSA or must be repaid by the MP.

"If the MP used their payment card, they have to reconcile this each month, including evidence, or their payment card is suspended.

"Payments to direct suppliers are automatically allocated to the MPs’ budget."

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