My thanks to MekQuarrie for reminding me to peruse David Marshall's expenses. I've only read the the Incidental Expenses Provision/Staff Allowance PDF and noted a few points of interest.
From 2004 (that's as far back allowances have been published) until February 2007 Mr Marshall was paying the Scottish Labour Party £500 a month for office rent. He then flitted his office in February 2007 to a company called GEM Workspaces Ltd which, if googled, brings up an address of Queenslie Business Centre, 19 Blairtummock Road, G33 4AN. There is a website mentioned: http://www.gemworkspaces.sagenet.co.uk/ but when you click the link the message is 'no website is configured at this address.'
It becomes more intriguing. On another search for GEM Workspaces Ltd the address is given as Wright Business Centre, 1 Lonmay Road, Queenslie, Glasgow GG£ 4EL. The same place? I'm sure some readers who know Glasgow will be able to say. I've tried to phone the number given on one of the websites for GEM Workspaces and guess what? Yes you're right - a long continuous tone.
Taxpayers paid £312 to the Careful Company for the flitting from the labour party office to Queenslie although what Mr Marshall produced to the fees office for payment in his February 2006 claim is only a quotation not an invoice. It was paid.
The GEM office monthly rent, for Room 219, was £367.50 for rent, £472.50 for property service charge, both plus VAT, making a total claim of £987.00 a month, plus fax and phone services.
In March 2007 Mr Marshall claimed for 'equipping new office' the grand total of £4815.43 and also rather a hefty amount from Staples of £795.79.
Now why would Mr Marshall move offices to somewhere twice the cost plus purchase equipment and stationery as if it was a new start. After all he had an office previously so surely he had suitable equipment and supplies. We seemingly paid for these to be transported.
A couple of other gems: Replacing laptop screen £567.67 and October 2006 his Orange mobile cost was £518.64 with November's cost £492.84. In September Mr Marshall purchases a lovely new Apple computer for £1208. If you do have a look, will you, like me, wonder how he managed to go through thousands of pounds worth of printer ink.
I do hope he is keeping in better health these days although I can understand if he feels stressed.
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8 comments:
Gulp! You seem to have found more in five minutes than I did over the whole weekend... But a lot more work to be done as you say.
It was a wee bit more than 5 minutes Mek but I was just specifically looking for office charges. Lots more to cover and of course I never looked at the other PDF files.
So Shepherd out in the first round fir the Spoeaker's chair.
Too much for transparency?
The piggies still don't get it, do they.
They think it will all blow over and they can get back to their Spanish practices.
We are going to have to start building that extension to the Westminster Abattoir and quickly.
'The Careful Company'...
What can yi say... likes... ?
No they don't get it Faux Cu and I doubt if they ever will.
Aye Free Thinker, the Careful Company. And if you look it was only a quotation that was submitted not an invoice. How inefficient is that from professional book-keepers/accountants?
If you look at G33 4AN and G33 4EL on streetmap.co.uk you will see that these locations are as close as they sound (c. 500m). They are both in or around the Queenslie Industrial Estate near the motorway in Glasgow in Shettleston. Whatever the distance, the real question is: why move an unspecified quantity of office equipment 500m to a new premises that costs twice as much to run, then claim for outfitting a new office? Even if this ludicrous trip occurred, that's a lot of wasted cash...
Aye Mek, it's all rather strange isn't it, especially as the 'firm' seems to have gone out of business since Mr Marshall had to resign.
It's kind of obvious the bloke's been milking us for years, even as a trusting pensioner I can see that.
Very few of the lot who shouted about his expenses at the time seem to have taken any notice. Perhaps I ought to post a link on the Scotsman forum... then perhaps not.
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