2006-2007 parliamentary expense reports are in and John Leech, Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, is proud of his record. The recently released figures reveal that the majority of his claimed expenses are attributable to staffing his Manchester office, open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. His staff helps assure that his around 90,000 constituents get the best possible service. Much of the remaining claimed expenses are related to the postage costs of correspondence with his constituents and responding promptly and effectively to their needs and concerns. In fact, more than 10,000 letters have been written to constituents in the past year.
Still, John Leech MP reduced costs where possible, making it a point to buy the cheapest train tickets available to him. Travelling standard class helped him reduce his travel expenses from £13,000 to £9,000. The South Manchester MP also decreased his overall claimed expenses by £2,000. This makes him something of a rarity among members of Parliament, as only a few MPs have been able to show a decrease of any kind.
John Leech MP said:
"Booking cheap advance train tickets has made a real difference in the high travel costs that accumulate from travelling between Manchester and London each week and I am pleased that this has resulted in overall costs going down."
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