Holyrood Property Ladder

Part II

The Edinburgh
Accommodation
Allowance

Thirty current members of the Scottish Parliament claimed mortgage interest as part or the whole of their claim for the Edinburgh accommodation allowance in the financial year 2007-08. They are listed below with an itemised account of the allowance claimed. The basic data was supplied by the Scottish Parliament in the form of numerous individual claims, but the analysis of the data was conducted by the Scottish Review alone. The 30 members are listed in descending order of the total claim.

1 equal
Tavish Scott
Liberal Democrat: Shetland; leader, Scottish Liberal Democrats; former minister for transport
Mortgage interest 11,400.00
Total: £11,400.00

1 equal
Duncan McNeil
Labour: Greenock and Inverclyde
Mortgage interest 8,010.31
Council tax 1,417.95
Utilities 237.75
Common charges 484.99
Legal fees 1,249.00
Total: £11,400.00

3
John Swinney
SNP: North Tayside; cabinet secretary for finance
Mortgage interest 9,481.41
Council tax 1,918.56
Total: £11,399.97

4
Nanette Milne
Conservative: North East Scotland (List)
Mortgage interest 9,497.02
Council tax 1,417.95
Utilities 164.58
Common charges 311.76
Total: £11,391.31

5
Mike Rumbles
Liberal Democrat: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
Mortgage interest 9,000.00
Council tax 2,363.25
Total: £11,363.25

6
Andrew Welsh
SNP: Angus; convener, parliament finance committee
Mortgage interest 9,108.56
Council tax 1,406.94
Utilities 248.43
Property insurance 173.57
Telephone 141.67
Total: £11,079.17

7
Alex Fergusson
No political affiliation: Galloway and Upper Nithsdale; presiding officer of the parliament
Mortgage interest 8,111.38
Council tax 1,875.93
Utilities 394.17
Property insurance 307.28
Total: £10,688.76

8
Nigel Don
SNP: North East Scotland (List)
Mortgage interest 2,061.92
Council tax 188.70
Utilities 59.00
Legal fees 3,479.00
Conveyancing fees 1,057.50
Survey fees 223.25
Removal costs 329.00
                                Hotel bills 3,281.85
                                Newspaper 0.65
                                Total: £10,680.87

9
Andy Kerr
Labour: East Kilbride
Mortgage interest 7,920.56
Council tax 1,534.85
Utilities 363.60
Property insurance 235.30
Common charges 318.25
TV licence 135.50
Total: £10,508.06

10
David Stewart
Labour: Highlands and Islands (List)
Mortgage interest 4,654.77
Legal fees 2,255.00
Conveyancing fees 2,173.75
Hotel bills 1,277.68
Newspapers 7.80
Total: £10,369.00

11
Murdo Fraser
Conservative: Mid Scotland and Fife (List); deputy leader, Scottish Conservatives' parliamentary group; deputy convener, parliament public audit committee
Mortgage interest 7,752.24
Council tax 1,417.95
Utilities 367.39
Property insurance 499.38
TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £10,172.46

12
Jackie Baillie
Labour: Dumbarton; former minister for social justice; deputy convener, parliament finance committee
Mortgage interest 8,174.77
Council tax 1,023.23
Property insurance 136.50
Common charges 648.40
Total: £9,982.90

13
Peter Peacock
Labour: Highlands and Islands (List); former minister for education and young people
Mortgage interest 6,958.40
Council tax 1,733.05
Utilities 56.79
Property insurance 380.99
Common charges 278.63
Total: £9,407.86

14
Linda Fabiani
SNP: Central Scotland (List); former minister for Europe, external affairs and culture
Mortgage interest 5,215.13
Council tax 1,733.05
Utilities 751.52
Property insurance 190.05
Common charges 531.65
Telephone 481.32
                                TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £9,038.22

15
Fergus Ewing
SNP: Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber; minister for community safety
Mortgage interest 5,428.48
Council tax 1,733.05
Utilities 742.30
Property insurance 487.12
Common charges 94.84
Telephone 78.69
                                TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £8,699.98
                                Note: In addition Mr Ewing received 1922.10 in
                                refund of underpayment for 2006-07

16
Richard Lochhead
SNP: Moray
Mortgage interest 5,607.22
Council tax 1,733.05
Utilities 439.71
Common charges 495.14
Telephone 266.02
TV licence 67.24
Total: £8,608.38

17
Stewart Maxwell
SNP: West of Scotland (List)
Mortgage interest 5,591.00
Council tax 1,161.54
Utilities 735.09
Property insurance 52.50
Common charges 676.55
Telephone 211.07
TV licence 135.30
                                Total: £8,563.25

18
John Scott
Conservative: Ayr
Mortgage interest 5,312.97
Council tax 1,733.05
Utilities 322.02
Property insurance 215.72
Common charges 366.15
Telephone 251.07
TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £8,336.48

19
Alex Neil
SNP: Central Scotland (List); minister for communities and housing
Mortgage interest 4,845.00
Council tax 1,417.95
Utilities 622.56
Property insurance 204.97
Common charges 331.45
Telephone 350.23
                                TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £7,907.66

20
Hugh Henry
Labour: Paisley South; convener, public audit committee
Mortgage interest 5,750.80
Council tax 858.44
Utilities 389.57
Property insurance 92.16
Common charges 534.60
TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £7,761.07

21
Rob Gibson
SNP: Highlands and Islands (List)
Mortgage interest 4,919.47
Council tax 1,280.10
Utilities 327.78
Common charges 495.65
TV licence 135.50
Total: £7,158.50

22
Jamie Stone
Liberal Democrat: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Mortgage interest 3,860.00
Council tax 570.33
Utilities 165.02
TV licence 135.50
Hotel bills 2,043.87
Total: £6,774.72

23
Adam Ingram
SNP: South of Scotland (List)
Mortgage interest 3,106.52
Council tax 1,260.40
Utilities 339.47
Property insurance 123.36
Common charges 685.36
Telephone 207.07
TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £5,857.68

24
Rhoda Grant
Labour: Highlands and Islands (List)
Mortgage interest 1,135.23
Rent 650.00
Council tax 692.00
Utilities 170.97
Property insurance 22.79
TV licence 80.65
Hotel bills 2,659.25
                                Total: £5,410.89

25
Ross Finnie
Liberal Democrat: West of Scotland (List); former minister for environment and rural development
Mortgage interest 2,811.40
Council tax 1,260.40
Utilities 296.60
Common charges 522.55
Telephone 155.54
TV licence 135.50
                                Total: £5,181.99

26
Brian Adam
SNP: Aberdeen North
Mortgage interest 2,318.31
Council tax 950.35
Utilities 861.00
Common charges 221.75
Telephone 291.76
TV licence 135.50
Total: £4,778.67

27
Nicol Stephen
Liberal Democrat: Aberdeen South; former deputy first minister
Mortgage interest 3,533.59
Council tax 768.76
Property insurance 99.47
TV licence 51.25
Total: £4,453.07

28
Stewart Stevenson
SNP: Banff and Buchan
Mortgage interest 4,212.49
Total: £4,212.49

29
Mary Scanlon
Conservative: Highlands and Islands (List)
Mortgage interest 1,083.69
Council tax 1,252.50
Utilities 222.40
Property insurance 386.37
Telephone 223.53
TV licence 135.50
Total: £3,303.99

30
Richard Baker
Labour: North East Scotland (List)
Mortgage interest 1,120.00
Council tax 278.76
Utilities 162.20
Telephone 49.73
Hotel bills 487.00
Total: £2,097.69

In addition to the above-named 30 who are currently members of the parliament, 10 who are no longer members of the parliament claimed for mortgage interest for a small part of the 2007-08 financial year: Shiona Baird (Green: North East Scotland); Chris Ballance (Green: South of Scotland); David Davidson (Conservative: North East Scotland); George Lyon (Liberal Democrat: Argyll and Bute); Maureen Macmillan (Labour: Highlands and Islands); Alasdair Morrison (Labour: Western Isles); Dave Petrie (Conservative: Highlands and Islands); Euan Robson (Liberal Democrat: Roxburgh and Berwickshire); Murray Tosh (Conservative: West of Scotland); Allan Wilson (Labour: Cunninghame North).

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