MPs expenses: Eric Illsley's modest flat with £3,000 tax bill

For month after month, the MP for Barnsley Central claimed £250 a month in council tax for his second home.

However, The Daily Telegraph research of public records found that his bill was only a fraction of what he was claiming.

In total, Mr Illsley has allegedly claimed £10,010 for council tax – £6,134 more than he had to pay – under the second home allowance. Mr Illsley’s alleged “phantom” council tax claims were featured, along with those from dozens of other MPs, on the front page of this newspaper almost a year ago.

The disclosure ultimately led to a police investigation which culminated in three charges of false accounting under the Theft Act being brought yesterday.

The case is now expected to cast a light on the unusual practice of MPs being permitted to claim hundreds of pounds a month for expenses without producing receipts. Before 2008, such paperwork was not required for claims of less than £250.

However, although receipts were not required, MPs had to confirm that the money being claimed was spent on the items or services they stated it was needed for.

Therefore, detectives checking Mr Illsley’s claims expanded their inquiry to consider whether the other claims were genuine.

Yesterday, the MP was charged with making false claims for more than £20,000 over three years on a range of goods and services.

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, announced the charges being brought against Mr Illsley.

“In total the charges allege a sum in excess of £20,000 was dishonestly claimed over [a] three-year period,” he said.

The prosecution will allege that, during the period under scrutiny, Mr Illsley claimed £65,639 under the second home allowance.

His claims to cover the cost of the mortgage on the flat, which he bought in 1993, were only about £180 a month.

After he was ordered to start submitting receipts in April 2008, he made claims for dry cleaning in his Barnsley constituency and submitted a bill of £2,220 for refurbishment works to the London flat and a £636 sofa-bed from Ikea.

The Fees Office rejected one telephone bill, because it related to his Barnsley property. In April 2009, the Fees Office told Mr Illsley that he had claimed too much for council tax that financial year.

Last night, senior Labour figures said it was right that Mr Illsley should be charged.

Alan Johnson, the former home secretary, said: “I’m sad that another Member of Parliament is going before the courts but that’s what needs to happen if the CPS decides this is a criminal issue.”

He said Mr Illsley and the other politicians facing charges were “innocent until proven guilty”.

He said: “It is a hangover from last year, not something new, that’s part of the same expenses scandal that was so appalling, so depressing, over the last year.”

However, there is growing anger over why the Labour Party took until yesterday to suspend Mr Illsley.

Unlike several of his colleagues, Mr Illsley was not disciplined by the party when the allegations emerged. He was re-elected to Parliament earlier this month.

Several other MPs were barred from standing at the election by Labour’s disciplinary panel.

The legal action is likely to last many months, during which time Mr Illsley will be able to continue receiving a salary and expenses.

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