Exclusive by political editor Paul Francis

A Kent MP claimed nearly £4,700 to pay an American-based consultancy firm to help him make better speeches in Parliament, we can reveal.

Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark, a Conservative frontbencher, claimed £4,648 on his expenses to cover the costs of a personal course aimed at improving his speech-making in the House of Commons.

The claim was submitted in 2006 under the category of incidental expenses and was approved by the Commons authorities.

Documents for Mr Clark’s claims show that he was provided with a tailor-made course by Tai Resources Limited for what was described as a “Training Course in Parliamentary Speechmaking.”

The course included eight one-to-one coaching sessions, each lasting four hours in addition to “ad hoc support for specific needs.”

Tai Resources is based in America and is described on its website as a “boutique consulting firm pioneering new directions in executive leadership and organizational change”.

Among its corporate clients are American Express, the US Naval Academy and the British banking group Lloyds TSB.

Mr Clark’s customised coaching programme took place in London at Westminster.

The shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change
said it was a legitimate and permissible claim as expenses were allowed to cover training for MPs.

He said: “I’ve always tried continually to improve how I can represent my constituents most effectively. Most people in most jobs are required to undergo training from time to time, and I don’t see why MPs should be above the need to learn. Training for members is specifically cited as one of the purposes of the office costs allowance. During the course of this Parliament I will have spent about half of what the average UK business spends training each employee, so I don’t think this is unreasonable.”

He had asked Tai to carry out the training because they were “an excellent training company used by many leading firms...they operate in Britain as well as around the world. All of the training was undertaken in Parliament - no travel costs were incurred. I learned a huge amount from the course I took with them.”

Under Parliamentary rules, the Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) can be used to meet the cost of accommodation for office or surgery use; equipment and supplies for office or surgery; work commissioned or other services and certain travel and communications.