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More on KentOnline
MPs and their staff battled dodgy wifi, poor phone reception and found their home office furniture lacking when working from home was first brought in because of the pandemic, expense reports reveal.
KentOnline has examined expenses claimed by the county's 18 MPs during the first lockdown, from March 23, when Boris Johnson ordered the country to 'stay at home', until July 3, when pubs, restaurants and hairdressers reopened.
As well as the expected printers, laptops and software, there were some unexpected purchases, including a mindfulness course.
According to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), since April 2020 an MP's annual income is £81,932, a rise from £79,468 the previous year.
IPSA says that annual changes in MPs’ pay are linked to changes in average earnings in the public sector using Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.
MPs can claim money back for accommodation costs, which is designed to cover fees incurred as a result of working from two permanent locations – London and their constituency.
They can also claim back office costs and a budget is provided to meet the costs of renting, equipping and running constituency offices, surgeries and other activities which support their parliamentary
functions.
Travel while on the job and staffing costs are also covered.
Under IPSA rules, MPs and their staff can claim for the costs of a home office, if that is where they routinely work from.
On March 16, the Prime Minister said the government needed "people to start working from home where they possibly can".
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke's seafront pad caused her connectivity problems when she tried to set up her family home as a constituency office.
Mrs Elphicke needed a wifi extender to improve her internet signal from her home in St Margaret's Bay, costing £121.97 and dated June 17.
Earlier that month, on June 8, £111.71 was claimed for a "fixed celluar terminal purchase to use for home working to obtain phone signal".
The claim added: "The property's proximity to France prevents usage of domestic mobile phone providers without this terminal."
It is not explicitly clear whether this was for Mrs Elphicke's house or an employee's.
However, visitors to St Margaret's and sometimes further up the coast at Deal and Walmer will be familiar with such signal issues including "Welcome to Belgium" messages.
It appears Craig Mackinlay, MP for South Thanet, or one of his members of staff were also having wifi problems. A claim was made for a wireless extender from Amazon, worth £69.99, on June 4.
The MP's office did not respond for comment when asked if this was for homeworking.
North Thanet MP Roger Gale made an expense claim for the installation and purchase of a BT phone line for a home office at the start of April.
A bill was then claimed for a BT home office phone in late June, for £218.04.
On June 29, a £1,009.12 claim was made for a landline and internet package, with the detail given "BT bill for isolation office".
Sir Roger's office did not respond for comment when asked what an "isolation office" was and whether the home phone line was for him.
MPs and their staff also claimed money for kitting out home offices with new furniture.
A desk was purchased for £49.95 by Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield's office. Helen Whately, Faversham and mid Kent MP, claimed £54.99 for "lighting", described as a "home working expense".
Some £321 was claimed by Ms Whately's office for a desk, chair and in-tray at the start of April, although it is not explicitly stated that this was for working from home.
Between May 1 and May 5, three separate claims were made for office furniture, costing £364.82, by Ms Whately's team. But one claim was refunded as the item could not be delivered, bringing the total down to £242.33.
Within the time period KentOnline looked at, Mrs Elphike, Gravesham's Adam Holloway, Sir Roger and Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat all claimed for printers.
"The work we dealt with increased by over 300%, our team increased by 0%."
Mr Holloway's was the cheapest, at £37.10, while Mr Tugendhat's was the most expensive at £348.07.
Mr Tugendhat also claimed £1,215.30 for a "parliamentary office laptop".
In a statement, Mr Tugendhat said: “Like many employers, I had to adapt very quickly to home working for my small team. I was determined that people in our community would not get a lower service from my exceptional team just because we could no longer work from the office.
"That meant buying a new printer so I could send letters from home and a new laptop so that one of my team, who was based in parliament, could work from home.
"With these two small changes to our equipment, we were able to help people across Tonbridge and Malling during the most difficult period in our memory. The work we dealt with increased by over 300%, our team increased by 0%."
Mr Tugendhat was not the only MP to make claims for laptops or computer equipment for his staff who started working from home.
Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst claimed £1,285.92 for two employees based in Westminster, after the Houses of Parliament closed to MPs and their staff.
Greg Clark, MP for Tunbridge Wells, claimed £1,423.22 in equipment for a member of staff working from home.
Dartford MP Gareth Johnson claimed a total of £902 in April for computer equipment from Curry's, but did not respond when asked by KentOnline to clarify if this had been for home working.
On April 23, Canterbury's Ms Duffield made a single claim of £4,220.84, with the expense described as for "computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories". Ms Duffield's team also did not respond when asked if this was for home working and how many employees the equipment was for.
On May 31, Mr Mackinlay claimed for an Amazon external hard drive, webcam and cables, worth £149.46, although this was not explicitly stated as for home working.
Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch made a £34.99 claim for a shredder for home working in July.
Mr Mackinlay also claimed a £139.99 shredder from Justar Technology in June, as well as £7.99 shredder oil from Amazon. The claim did not specify, however, that this was for home working.
Finally, in one of the more unexpected claims, dated April 6, Ashford MP Damian Green bought an Oxford Mindfulness course.
It ran for a month across eight sessions, each of which cost £8. Mr Green confirmed the course was for a member of his staff.
