Political party office payments

BBC Wales research has shown that the main four political parties in Wales have received almost £500,000 from public funds over the past two years for office space for their AMs and MPs.

These are some of the details:

The Liberal Democrat MP and AM for Montgomeryshire paid a total of over £30,000 in rent to their local party in a single year.

The Liberal Democrats received a total of £30,495 in rent and other office costs from Lembit Opik MP and Mick Bates AM in 2006/7 for a building which is owned outright by the party.

The party has confirmed to BBC Wales that it took no independent advice before setting the rent and says that no formal rental agreements exist.

The party claims that it received no net income from the rental and that the money was spent on modernising and refurbishing the building.

The Lib Dem office in Newtown, Powys Party offices cost public £473k

In a response to BBC Wales, the party notes that: "The constituency office had not been updated since the 1960s and had not been refurbished for many years. It presented a poor image to any visitors and constituents. It was not an acceptable working environment for the office staff of the elected representatives."

"The works carried out include, new carpets, plaster and painting walls and ceiling, new electrics, lighting and phone system, new desks, chairs and cupboards and work to improve the floor downstairs. All these repairs were essential for the elected representatives and their staff to carry out their duties to their constituents in a safe and comfortable way."

The recently released parliamentary expenses revealed that the party received over £70,000 in rent from Mr Opik alone between 2004 and 2008, while Mr Bates paid the local party £8,000 for rent for one of his two constituency offices in the last financial year (2008/9).

However, a local estate agent and a local property developer have both shown BBC Wales alternative office accommodation, both of which would cost £10,000 excluding rates and running costs - all of which can be claimed separately by both AMs and MPs.

The Plaid Cymru MP and AM for Caernarfon/Arfon paid over £16,000 in rent to their local party in a single year.

The Plaid Cymru office in Caernarfon (by red sign)

Plaid Cymru's Arfon branch received £8,800 from Hywel Williams MP and £6,600 from Alun Ffred Jones AM in 2007/8 for an office in Caernarfon that according to the party's own accounts for 2008, only had a small outstanding mortgage of £5,131.62.

Additional claims covered the cost of stationery, maintenance, waste collection, electricity, water, business rates, cleaning, staff parking, office equipment hire and telephone.

Mr Jones also paid £715 to the party for an office in Bangor.

Plaid Cymru has told BBC Wales that "there is a procedure in place for assessing the market rental value of offices (which is undertaken by professional, independent assessment)".

Of the Conservative party's 12 AMs and three Welsh MPs, only two politicians appear not to pay rent or other office related support costs to their local associations.

The party's Welsh headquarters is based in Whitchurch, part of the Cardiff North constituency, and which houses the office of Jonathan Morgan AM.

The Conservative office in Cardiff

According to his expenses claims published by the Welsh Assembly this week, Mr Morgan paid £8,700 in rent to the Cardiff North Conservative Association in 2008/9, although he has confirmed to BBC Wales that different payments for the use of different rooms over the last few years has meant that payments have alternated between the local association and the Welsh Conservative Party - both of which share the same building.

The party has been unable to clarify the precise details of the ownership of the building (which the Land Registry notes as N.C. Lombard Street Nominees), or an apparent discrepancy in the rental payments exchanged between the different occupants within the Welsh Conservative Party headquarters.

However, in terms of the level of rent paid to the party across Wales, a spokesman for the Welsh Conservative Assembly group said: "A formal legal agreement is in place or has been agreed in principle by every Conservative Assembly Member who rents office space from Conservative associations, backed by an independent valuation."

The Labour MP and AM for Gower paid a combined total of over £16,000 in rent to their local party in a single year.

The Gower Constituency Labour Party received £8,100 each from both Martin Caton MP and Welsh Health Minister Edwina Hart AM for the rent of office space in Gorseinon.

Labour Party office of Martin Caton MP and Edwina Hart AM

In a statement issued to BBC Wales, the AM and MP say that "renting from the party ensures security of tenancy and means that we have a landlord with a vested interest in properly maintaining the property".

They also note that the level of rent has been subject to an independent valuation, and that the "rental income" also includes rates, water rates, gas, electricity and insurances.

The secretary of the Gower CLP told BBC Wales that a valuation was conducted "by the Fees Office in London."

But a local estate agent has told BBC Wales that a large office nearby on the corner of the same street is available for an annual rent of £6,000.

According to the Land Registry, the building was actually purchased in 2004 by "Labour Party Nominees Ltd", at a cost of £110,000.

The local party accounts at the Electoral Commission note that mortgage payments on the property in 2008 amounted to £14,045.02.

BBC Wales has received confirmation from the Gower Labour party that the mortgage paid by the CLP is in no way related to the rental income from the AM and MP, and that the high payment reflects the fact that a decision was made to make an "advance payment" on the mortgage, to reduce the long term interest cost that would be incurred over the full term of the mortgage.

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