Minister broke rules on expenses, watchdog finds

A Conservative minister broke expenses rules by using public resources to produce "overtly political" material for the Tories, a watchdog has ruled.

Pensions Minister Paul Maynard, MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, says he has paid back £1,367 for using a state-of-the-art printer.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said Mr Maynard had "rectified" by making a payment to the watchdog.

A Downing Street source told the BBC Mr Maynard had "made a mistake", but Labour called for him to be removed from his government role.

In a report published on Thursday Ipsa investigators said the printer should have been used for constituency work but had been used for campaign material.

Ipsa also found Mr Maynard had under-reported use of his constituency office by his local Conservative Party association.

But Mr Maynard was cleared of wrongdoing over his "higher than average" claim of £106,000 for printing and related costs since 2010.

The watchdog said a "comprehensive audit" of the relevant period had not been undertaken because of "resource constraints".

The MP said the report had made "no direct criticism" of himself or his office.

In its report, Ipsa said: "The MP reasonably believed he had put in place an agreement with Ipsa to allow for the occasional use of his constituency office for non-parliamentary purposes and made regular payments to Ipsa for this purpose.

"However, the compliance officer considers the frequent use of Ipsa-funded office equipment such as the 'Riso' printer went beyond the bounds of this agreement, even if some of the costs of use were covered by the local Conservative Association.

"In addition, it is reasonable to assume the constituency office was used for storage and preparation of party-political material at various times which are not accurately reflected in the log of use maintained by the MP's office."

Mr Maynard said he "welcomed" the report and had concluded that "navigating the dual use of a constituency office" could be "inherently complicated".

He said he had stopped the arrangement.

Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: "Rishi Sunak should remove Paul Maynard as a minister, but the country also urgently needs change."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected]