2014-01-22 MM Evidence Website Version

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Contents


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Maria iller

Written evidence1. Article from th Daily Telegraph 10 December 2012

MPs expenses: Culture Secretary aria Miller s 90,000 claims for parents homeA Cabinet minister claimed more than 90,000 in taxpayers' funds for a second home where her parents lived,The Daily Telegraph can disclose.By Holly Watt and Claire Newell.Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, claimed the cost of the mortgage and other expenses associated with thelarge detached property in south London.She said that the property has been her parents' home for nearly two decades .The Cabinet minister's arrangements would appear to be at odds with parliamentary rules. In 2009, TonyMcNulty, the Labour Home Office minister, was severely reprimanded for letting his parents live in histaxpayer-funded second home.The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards ruled that second homes must be exclusively for the use ofMPs in fulfilling their parliamentary duties and that housing a politician's parents was specifically prohibitedby the rules During the period, Mrs Miller said her main home was a rented property in her Basingstokeconstituency, which meant the taxpayer was liable for the second home in London.The Daily Telegraph began an investigation into Mrs Miller's expense claims after receiving information froma well-placed source.Mrs Miller, a former advertising executive, and her husband, a partner in a City law firm, bought a doublefronted terrace house in an upmarket south London suburb in January 1996 for 234,000.In December 1996, Mrs Miller's parents John and June Lewis sold their home in Wales and official recordsshow that they moved to the London property.John Lewis, the minister's father, 73, said they had moved to the home to help Mrs Miller look after thechildren when she launched her unsuccessful attempt to become the Conservative MP for W olverhamptonWe moved in to help her, with everything You can't become an MP and fight an unwinnable seat in

Wolverhampton with two or three kids back here, he said. We were sitting out in South Wales, twiddlingour thumbs and it was a very good idea .In 2005, Mrs Miller was fmally elected to Parliament as the Conservative MP for Basingstoke, about 50 milesfrom her south London home.At this point, she declared her London house as her second home for the purposes of parliamentary expensesMrs Miller had a home loan called an offset mortgage, in which the value of repayments can vary significantly.Between 2005 and 2006, Mrs Miller was claiming 1,439 a month in mortgage interest payments - coveringthe entire loan. Typical claims for utilities were about 125 a month, council tax was 150, In March 2006, sheclaimed 477 for crockery .By July 2007, her mortgage claims had increased to 1,519 a month In January 2008, her mortgage increasedby around 100,000 to 575,000, with interest payments of about 2,700 a month.Parliamentary rules at the time limited claims to about 24,000 annually. Mrs Miller did not make claimscovering the entire cost of her mortgage and received about 2,000 a month from the cost.During the four years, Mrs Miller claimed 90,718 in expenses for the property - just ll5 less than themaximum permitted amount for the period. She made her las t claim for the property on April27, 2009 less


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2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

ACA

Claims () Costs()

ACA

Claims () Costs()

ACA

Claims () Costs()

ACA

Claims () Costs()

Mortgage interest 17268 24024 17268 25701 17268 30736 19263 21530

Council Tax 1800 2100 1800 2100 1800 2100 2335 2335

Utilities 1500 2670 1740 2913 1980 2572 2126.44 3726.23

Cleaning 644 2900 - 2900 - 2900 - 2900

Maintenance/

repairs/furnishing/

insurance 780 3000 1020 3000 740 3000 757.79 3157.79

Parking permit 80 80 - 80 - 80 - 80

Telecoms 252 480 252 480 252 480 - 480

Food - 480 - 480 - 480 - 480TOTAL 21634 35734 22110 37654 23083 42348 24482.23 34689.02


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12 May 12 2005-30 April 2006 (50 weeks, 350 day period)

May 2006-April 2007 (364 day period)

May 2007-April 2008 (364 day period)

May 2008-April 2009


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Maria Mil ler 16

Department o Finance dministration

Rec01d of phone conversation I mee ting with:Name of Member I Official _______ i < I D . Q . } i \ \ ~ ..QJ:1? _ _

n date: _ _ _ _,.J.JD:t/D I

ki\W < \Jler I\Ov iV\Itl\c\ ro C ~ o . r m CtyUINr P( (f\.( 0..3C\iY\ \ his ~ j t G r .~ W\\1 lO\ 'fM \Y\u IV\ v. r\ \ ~

Signed: Date _ _,2. - -- - 0=-c- -.


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Maria Miller 17

OVENTRYTLC not PLC

OAKFIELD HOUSE BINLEY BUSINESS PARK BIN EY COVENTRY CV3 2TO

Miller Your ref/ Our ref:Tel No: 845 76655221 1h J1h1+ 1111 1JJ1 1J1 JI 68000 Fax No:Date: 19thOctober 2 9DETAILED STATEMENT

INTEREST DETAILSEffective Gross Effective Gross Effective GrossDate Interest Date Interest Date Interest01-Jan-09 02.8500 01 -Apr-09 00.350001-Jan-09 01.8500 01-0ct-09 03.74000 1-Feb-09 01.35000 1-Mar-09 00.8500

TRANSACTION DETAILSs === Date Description Debit Credit BalanceBalance 1 January 2009 576779.04- Jan-09 Interest 906.00 577685 .04= 26-Jan-09 Receipt 837.26 576847.78

31-Jan-09 Offset Benefit 14 02 576833.76Fe b-09 Interest 597.29 577431.0525-Feb-09 Receipt 63488 576796.1728-Feb-09 Offset Benefit 7.32 576788.85Mar-09 lntsrest 416.33 577205.1825-Mar-09 Receipt 401.23 576803.9531-Mar-09 Offset Benefit 3.55 576800 4 0Apr-09 Interest 165 93 576966.3327-Apr-09 Receipt 16468 57680165

continued overleaf .The Soc:itly Is l u t h o r i ~ e regulated by tht Flntncit l Strvltu AuthorltriF$A rtftrtn


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PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

House of CommonsWestminsterLondonSWl AOAA

DearN O Audit of 2009-10 House of Commons: Members Resource Accounts

Maria Mil ler 8

You may recall that the Clerk of the House, Malcolm Jack, wrote to all Members on 2February with an update on a variety of issues about expenses. In his letter hedescribed someof the implications of moving from a limited scope to a full scope N AOaudit for the financial year 2009/10, as agreed by the House last year.This is, in effect, a move to a more rigorous audit of spending by the Department ofResources on Members pay and allowances. Work carried out by the Department hasidentified areas where additional evidence is needed to meet the requirements ofResolutions of the House and the Green Book.The Clerk s letter goes on to say that the Depar tment of Resources will be writing toMembers requesting the specific documents needed. t is understood that Membersmay have concerns about the burden this requirement may impose at a busy timefollowing on as it does from other initiatives such as the Legg review. However, it isnot expected that providing the documentation which is needed will be unduly onerousin most cases. Documents provided to Sir Thomas Legg as part of his review of theprevious financial year have been analysed and taken into account as part of thisexercise.

dditional information requiredThe NAO have identified four areas where they have greatest concern. These are: mortgage interest;

home rentals; office rentals; and staff expenditure.

The Department of Resources will be writing to or telephoning Members separately inrelation to staff expenditure where this is necessary. The work undertaken on the other


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Maria Miller 9

three areas has established that certaindocumentation is required to support claims youhave made during 2009/10. This is detailed in the Annex attached.Receipt of documentsAll requested documents should be returned to the Department of Resou rces ma rkedfor the attention of the Policy and Quality Assurance Team. The Department is workingwithin tight timescales which could be further impacted by the da te of dissolution ofParliamen t It is therefore requested that Members return all requested documentationno later than Wednesday 31 March 2010 f you have any queries please contact theEnquiries and Advice Team on ext 1340. If you have already forwarded the information detailed on the accompanying annex tothe Department in last few days please ignore this letter.Recovery of moniesUn der the authority of the MEC the Department of Resources will have the option ofrecovering from Members any claim paid in 2009/10 which is considered to beunsupported by the correct documents. t is anticipated that this will be done byvoluntary repayment but if necessary it could be either through deduction from salaryor where app ropriate from resettlement grant. This will be an action of last resort butmay be necessary to meet the required standard in the management of public funds.Your cooperation in this matter at what is a busy time is appreciatedYours sincerelv

Director General of Resources


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ariaMiller 2

ANNEX I OUTSTANDING INFORMATION)We require the following documentation to support PAAE claims submitted since April 2009.MORTGAGE INTEREST

I The mortgage offer or agreement, setting out the terms oft hemortgage; including. but not limited to) mortgage type, loan amount and interest rate payable.2. A property valuation to support the mortgage agreement s) held , as per the letter toMembers sent on 9th July 2009. lease note that if this is not included in yourmortgage offer, we will need to see evidence of an independent valua tion.

OFFICE RENTALS3. In accordance with the amendments made to the Green Book in July 2009, a copy ofa recent independent valuation must be provided when leasing from a political party

[para 2.2.5]. lease forward an independent valuation from no earlier than05/05/2 05, which confirms that you are paying no more than the market value.


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aria illerMP

Member of Parliament for Basingstoke

Director General of ResourcesDepartment ofResourcesHouse ofCommonsLondon SWIA OAA

flu

aria iller 2

House of Commonsl ondon SW IA OAATel : 2 - 7219 5749

Please find attached further copies of the documentation that support the mortgageclaim I made for the month ofApril 2009 as requested.As you are aware this was my only claim in respect of the ACA for the year 2009/ 10.I did not make any further claims after that date.I understand from your letter 18 March 20 10 that after that claim was paid furtherretrospective rules have been introduced that any claims for mortgage interest need tobe accompanied by an independent valuation of he property. I was clearly not awareof this when the claim was made.As the mortgage with the Coventry Building Society is by wayof a re-mortgageI was not required to obtain a valuation at that time. For are-mortgage it is the usualpractice for the lender to obtain a valuation but not to share it with the customer asthis may enable the customer to sue the valuer if t is incorrecl There is no need forthe customer to obtain a separate valuation.I understand that a property valuation will cost significantly more than theamount paid and on the facts ofmy case I would suggest that this is adisproportionate requirement which was introduced with larger mortgage payments inmind. I would therefore be grateful ifyou could let me know whether such adisproportionate expense is necessary in these circumstances.With regard to an independent valuation to substantiate the cost of15 per weekrental for my Basingstoke constituency office I am awaiting the paperwork and willforward it as soon as it becomes available.With e ~ wishes

Email: [email protected]

uurr9 PR ID OSSUR NCE


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Maria Mil ler 22

_ ~ ~ ~ b e r s Rei'T;'bursement - -.. Personal Additional Accomrpoqati\)1) 1:,x1erlancime-Membe r s Name (CAPITAL LETTERs) Const it uency cAPITAL LETTERS) 66 7

~ A ~ . . ~ i L I . . E : - ~ ~ i ~ G , ~ ~ ~ ~Claim detailsMonth/period to be claimed From ' 0 1 1.0 14- ; 2 0 0 ], : To ,J 10 _ _O i - . 2 0 i- .. - - - _____ . _Subsistence(No receipts required)

Cost of accommodation

Number of nights spentaway from main heme

Fixtures, fi tti ngs and furnishings

Other household costs(e.g. service charges, utili ties,telecommunications, maintenanceand repairs)

[_ - - - ......

LL.r -L

i @ 25.00 per night Mortgage interest

Hotel Rent (inc deposits)

Council TaX/rates

'

Total

'

,... - - - - - ..

Total

iI.. . i

- ,

Exp type/Cats

5 14 - - -514 - - -514 - - -

5 14 - - -

5 4Please securely attach required documentation e.g. invoices, receipts etc . insupport of Individual items equal to or In excess of 25.00 un less standingdocuments e.g. mortgage statements, rental agreements etc. have previouslybeen lodged. Grand Total

Authorisation and declaration/ 1 confirm tMt th amounts claimed were inc.urred In resJ)eCl of my ~ t i o o a home as reported t the

Department t Reso4Kces./ 1con1'irm thet the amounts d l lmed co'Tlpfy with the pf1nclples and rules contall'led In the Green oo .

Member'sSignature

Data ProtectionT l t H O v w : e t c - - - . . . ~ f l ' k ' t l l t W . . . m l l t i O n , . . . , . . . . . . . . . . ,; tllllloforMI4tl'-..,.PIMti. . .___._,.. .... ~ I o r t i W ~ [ ~M I U I O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - - - - a c c ~ t . . , t l o c . - . . . - l o tU I C : . . . , _ t o e f l c - - l e i i i C . T i w ~ - M I O W - . . : M e f .. UM, : ,.IQioMII,._O Ic


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\

e ;=;-E == ::;:::;= == :::

Maria Miller 23

t h ~ ~COVENTRYTLC not PLC

OAKFIELD HOUSE BltiLEY BUSINESS PARK BINLEY COVENTRY CV3 2TO

INTEREST DETAILSl f luc.hV lDale14-Nov-07

GrossInterest05.6000

TRANSACTION.DETAILSO et tc Description

DETAILED STATEMENT

EffectiveDate GrossInterest

DebitBalance 1 January 2007Nov-07 Interest 1499 7 114-Nov-07 Advance 575000.0011 t iw 07 Arrangement Fee 1800.0014-Nov-Ol TTFee 35.0030-Nov-07 Offset Bonef11Dec -07 Interest 2731.0827 fj . 07 Receipt3 1-Dec-0 / Offset Benef11

TotaiOifsetBenefll

Your rei. 1173429111Our rei: MRI601

Tel N ~ 5 7665522Fax No.Date:

EffectiveDate

Credit

t t6.04

4067.0?239.82

31st May 2008

GrossInterest

Balance.001499.71

576499.71578299.71578334.715782 1867580949.75576882.73576642.91576642.91

355.86

I .u or ;r. 11 ,, .J h., 11 1 1ft ~ ~ . ' ' c ~ . . r rl rt >< Yl l .,. . , yl


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Maria Miller 24

~ ~OVENTRY

TLC not PLCOAKFIELD HOUSEBINLEY BUSINESS PARK BINLEY COVENTRY CV3 2TO

Miller

INTEREST DETAILSEffectiveDate01-Jan-0801-Jan-0801-Mar-0801-May-08

GrossInterest05.600005.350005.100004 8500

TRANSACTION DETAILSDate Des cript ion

DET ILED ST TEMENT

f:l lectiveDate GrossInterest

DebitBalance 1 January 2008Jan-08 Interest 2610.5925-Jan-08 Receipt31-Jan-08 Offset BenefitFeb-08 Interest 2442.8725-Feb-08 Receipt29-Feb-08 Offset BenefitMar -08 Interest 2488.3725-Mar-08 Receipt31-Mar-08 Offset BenefitApr-08 Interest 2408.4925-Apr-()8 RP.ceipt

Your rei : 11734291/1Ourref: MAI601

Tel No: 0845 7665522ax No:

Dte:

EffectiveDate

Credit

2338.30228.48

2349.64213.74

2236.612 17 81

2232.54

31st May 2008

GrossInterest

Ba lance5 7 6 6 ~ 2 9 1

579253.50576915.20576686.72579129.59576779.95576566.21

5 7 9 0 5 ~ . 5 8

576817.97576600.16579008.65576/ i 6. 11

continued overleaf .Jr.; ~ - f l ' ( " ' , ' ~ - l u l n ~ s e d Mid rcqulllC'd bt ~ - n ' . H I ~ I ; - , 1 : :( f ' /o(( . \ u l ~ ( t l : y i $ = $ A (( ' ( (111((: ...umbN l:ii3'J11 rh{l S , ( ) ( o C ' I J i n i ( ~ ' ' I H I c, r -1 1" ' , - ~ - . .. h tu :m .,,, .,(thl\9 Ct(jufl,

~ " ~ ; , : . ~ > l r : h V< ,IUihOti 'ed ~ n rc-qui31Ud by lhe fltUfl.-1..)1 ~ c e o AuHtOfoly M : m ~ t ol The B11


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1 February 2007

MRS Maria MILLER

Dear MRS MILLER,Your Offset Flexible Mortgage number 10070429Your direct debit reference number 10070429-02

Maria Mi l ler 25

~ ~ R SThe Royal ank ofS otland

RBS o rrset Service TeamPO Box 19545GreenockPA 15 1WZTelephone: 08453 004 013Facsimile: 0845 300 7011www .rbs.co .uk

Following the increase to the Bank of England base rate, we have increased our interestrates from midnight on 3 January 2007. The interest rate for your Offset Flexible Mortgageis 6.20 .Your minimum monthly payment will be 2,455.00. We ve amended your direct debi t toco llect this new amount each month. The first of these new payments is due on, orimmediately after, 26 February 2007.If you have any questions please call us on 08453 004 013. Were here 8.30am to 7.30pmMonday to Friday and 9am to 12.30pm on Saturdays.Yours ,.,

For and on behalf of The Royal Bank of Scotland pic

8 487 3956M97 21

nRBS

The RoyalDankO Scotltl ld picReglSt&red lnScouanc s No 312RegislefeaOff.ce 36 Sl Al rOlewSquweEalf lbUrgh EH2 2YBAuthonteCIIM reg\.168100 by the FinancialSe tviCIH AulhOtrty.


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PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIALMrs Maria Miller MPHouse of CommonsLondonSWlAOAA

15 March 2007

Dear Mrs MillerAdditional sts Allowance ACA) 2006 2007

Maria M il ler 26

TelFax

Email :

Thank you for sending a copy of a letter from Royal Bank of Scotland notifying you of achange in the interest rateAs you will be aware Members are required to lodge with us, on an annual basis, mortgageinterest statements or other documentation, from a mortgage lender, that clearly shows theamount of interest that has been paid. The Green Book section 3 .8.1 refers.)Unfortunately, to date we do not appear to have received your statement.I should be grateful if you would provide us with your most recent mortgage intereststatement as soon as possible. This will help to avoid delays in the processing of futu reclaims.Please do not hesitate to contact me on the number shown above if you have any questionsconcerning this matter.

Yours sincerely

JIOUSI: 0 1COMMONS

DEP RTMENT OF f iN NCE AND ADMINISTRATIO N HOUSE OF CoMMONS LONIXJN ::.WIA O IY KSTOR IN PHOPIJ :


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PRIVATE AND NFIDENTIALMrs Maria Miller MPHouse of CommonsLondonSWlA OAA

2 July 2007

Dear Mrs MillerAdditional Costs Allowance ACA) 2 7/ 2 8

Maria Mil ler 27

TelFax :

Email :

Thank you for sending a copy of a letter from Royal Bank of Scotland notifying you of achange in the interest rate.As you will be aware Members are required to lodge with us, on an ann ual basis, mortgageinterest statem ents or other docum entation, from a mortgage lender, that clearly shows theamount of interest that has been paid. The Green Book section 3.8.1 refers .Unfortunately, to date we do not appear to have received a statement.I sho uld be grateful if you would provide us with you r most recent mortgage intereststatement as soon as possib le as we will be unable to process future claims for mortgageuntil we have we have received the necessary documentation .Please do not hesitate to contact me on the number shown above if you have any questionsconcerning this matter.

Yours sincerely

liOUS f. OFCOMMONS

_)DEP RTMENTOf fiN N CE ND DHINISTR nON House OF CoMMONS LONDON SW lOM rriVHSTON IN J'ttOt'U


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PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIALMrs Maria Miller MPHou se of CommonsLondonSWlA OAA

5 July 2007

Dear Mrs MillerAdditional osts Allowance (ACA) 2007 2008

Maria Mil ler 8

TelFax

Email:

Thank you for sending a copy of a letter from Roya l Bank of Scotland confirming the interestthat was paid in the financial year 2005 2006.I shou ld be grateful if you wou ld now provide us with mortgage interest statement for thefinancial year 2006 2007.Pease do not hesitate to contact me on the number shown above if you have any questionsconcerning this matter

Yours sincerely

H OUSE OF OMMONS

UEPARTMfNJ Ut r l ~ A N \ C : NU IWMINIST nON House OF COMMONS lONDON SWl OM INVI STOM IN 'HOI) J


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PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIALMrs Maria Miller MPHouse of CommonsLondonSWlA OAA

12 October 2007

Dear Mrs MillerAdditional Costs Allowance ACA) 2007 2008

Maria Mil ler 29

TelFax:Email:

I refer to my letter dated 1 tAugust 2007 requesting sight of a mortgage interest statementfor the financial year 2006/2007To date we do not appear to have received a replyI shou ld be grateful If you will provide us with a copy of your most recent mortgage intereststatement as soon as possib le. This will he lp to avo id delays in the processing of fu tureclaimsPlease do not hesitate to contact me on the number shown above if you have any questionsconcerning this matter

You rs sincerely

Validation Officer

llOJISf O OMMONS

INVUSTOM IN l " t ~ P U


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Statement date 16/11/2007Your account numberI

MRS Maria MILLt:HLondon .

Maria Miller 30

~ ~ S'~ .The Royal anko ScotlandRBS Offset Service TeamPO Box 19545GreenockPA15 tWZ

Tolephone: 08453 004 013Facsimile: 0845 300 7011wwwrbs co uk

Your sort codeSW19 7AR 000022

Your Royal Bank of Scotland Offset Flexible MortgageAn overview of your account for the past three monthsYour opening Offset Flexibl e Mortgage account balance on 01/09/2007Money n*Money outTotal movement on your Offset Flexible Mortgage

530,503.519,542.23

account during th is period 520,961.28Your Offset Flexible Mortgage account balance as at 16/11/2007*Further information is detailed under the section headed 'Movements in your Offset FlexibleMortgage'.An update on your available facilityYou r Offset Flexible Mortgage accoun t facilityYour Offset Flexible Mortgage account balance as at 16/ /2007Your available facilityAn update on your mortgage positionWhat you ownYourhome (based on the la l valuation)What you oweYour Offset Flexible Mortgage account balanceas at 16/ /2007

-520,961.28

0.00

525,000.000.00525,000.00

750,000.00

0.00The difference between wh at you own and what you owe 750,000.00Payments that were due to your Offset Flex ible Mortgage during the period/09/2007 to 16/11/2007

t ... i - ., : .;: :\ t f


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Maria Miller 31

From:Sent: 1 lulv 2 7 12:40To :Subject: ACA query

Apologies for the late notice given both our absences on Friday and yesterday; I took a call from Maria Miller MP onThursday evening. She was calling in response to your request for an updated mortgage interest statement.The Member stated that the Bank of Scotland had provided a MIRASS which Ms Miller has forwarded to us . f thisis not sufficient for our needs can we provide her with more detail as what we require? I must warn you that theMember was not confident of being able to get any further Information from the bank. I sa id if this was the case thenthere was probably little we could do.I m happy to discuss if vou feel we need to pursue this. Her mobile number If you are unable to contact her in theHouse is 07Thanks,


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10 November 2009Mr lain MillerMrs Maria Miller

Dear Mr Miller and Mrs Miller,

Sort codeAccount nu mber

Letter confirming interestpaid y you

The Offset Fl exible Mortgage - tax year 2 tl - :.UU

Maria Miller 32

~ ~ R SThe Royal ankof ScotlandRBS Offset Service TeamPO Box 19545GreenockPA151WZ

Telephone: 08453 4 013Facsimile: 0845 3 7011www.rbs.co.uk

I can coni rm that the interest paid by you on your borrowing during the tax year ending 5th April2{ 07, totalled 24,880.82.If you need to know anything else, just call us. Our ines are open 8.30am to 7.30pm Monday to Fridayand 9am to 12.30pm on Saturdays.

Yours sincerely

For and on behalf of The Royal Bank of Scotland p ic

. 181922216 3n

ThO Royal Banli ol Scotland p cRegistered in ScotlandNo 90312Ragisteted Off1 : 6St Anarow SquareEdinburghEH2 2Y6AUthOrised aO I fegu ated by the FklanclalSoMoosAulhority


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PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIALMrs Maria Miller MPHouse of CommonsLondonSWlA OAA

TelFax:

Email:1 August 2007

Dear Mrs MillerAdditional Costs Allowance ACA) 2007/2008I refer to your telephone conversation with my colleagueconcerning mortgage interest.

Maria M il ler 33

Jn 6h of July

I can confirm that the MIRAS5 statement that you sent us on 27 April 2007 was acceptablefor our purpose of confirming the amount of interest that was paid in the financial yea r 200-2006 copy enclosed.Members are required to lodge with us on an annual basis, mortgage interest statements orother documentation from a mortgage lender that clearly shows the amount of interest thathas been paid. Therefore we now require a statement for the period 2006-2007Please do not hesitate to contact me on the number shown above if you have any questionsconcerning this matter.Yours sin cerely

Validation Officer

..,c,..AKtMtNT OF t JNANCE AND M J I ~ I M A I V N f li..JVX v -VMMOUS lONOON SWlA OAA INVt sTOR IN pt )I., P.


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7April 2007

MRS Maria MILLER

Sort codeAccount number

MRS Mll.l ~ R ILetter confirJ ing interestpaid y you

The Offset Flexible Mortgage tax year 2005 - 2006

Maria Miller 34

~ ~ R B SThe Royal ank o Scotland

RBS O ffset Service TeamPO Box 19545GroenockPA15 1WZTelephOne: 08453 004 013Facsimile: 0845 300 701 1www .rbs.co.uk

I can conitrrn mat the lntElldSlj aid oy you Ul yOUI uOirowi t I:J tiur i t\i iiotllCV< jt


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30 June 2005

London

Dear Mrs Miller,

Maria iller 35

~ ~ h e Royal Bank.of ScotlandLondon Blackfrlars Branch36 37 New Bridge StreetLondon EC4V 6BJTelephone: 020 7 489 8078Facsimile: 020 7489 9356Website: www.rbs.co.ukSort code: 16-00-19

Please accept this lener as confirmation of the payment amount of you r Offset Mortgage.The details are as fo llowsRateMonthly payment 5.65 interest rate is variable)2,002.00

Please do not hesitate to contact me at this office if he above requ ires fmther clarification.

Yours sincerely

Premium Relationship Manager

Bank online with Digital Banking - www.rbs.eo.uk/internetbanklng_)INVSfOR I N rt"..OI"l.E04S11 o){812 )Cm

n,. Royal Bank of Scot. lndpie C the Bait , .. by 1M Fln6neltl SeMc.. AuChorlty S is a member o The Roy Bank of Scodand The tty * k ~pro IUcts life Q ~ d t o s unH ttuata lnd o t h r ~ lnY6Ament tchtmel and stalceholdef W ld 04Mr pensions) th6 Bank ac:hilles on and.._ . tholt 04 the W tfbllng Gn:M.Jp M10Moi W are Royal Soottl$h t s u r ~ n t e pic and f\ovlll Sank Of Scotland Unit TnAI Milllilgement t..nited, both regolllted by 1M f"fllnCial S6MoHAgency a;,reements ex st bMwMn rMmbef1 of ThtAoval Sink eM Scoclano: Group


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Whe n to usethi s form

Your detailsName

Constituency

Add ress omain home

Address osecond hom e

for Additional CosfsAllowance If claimedDeclaration

If you i ntendto claim Additional

Co st s Allowance for asecond home

Signa tureDate

Da ta protection

Send your completedf orm to

Travel/Additional Costs AllowanceNotification of Member'shome addressesfor travel entitlements and Additional Costs Allowance the add ress of your main home

Maria Mil ler 36

Page 1 of 1

the add ress of your second home, if you intend to claim Additional Costs Allowance fo r it.

A:> tc:ode

Postcodo

I confirm that my address details I have given above are correct. I understand that I must tell the Members' Allowances Section about any changes to the

above arrangements. I understand that I must tell the Members Allowances Section In advance about any

substantive change to the financial arrangements for these homes, such as changesto the val ue of mortgages and bank loans. I confirm that I have read the rules on Additional Costs Allowance as set out

in the Green Book, Section 3 I intend to c laim Additional o s ~ o n c e for the second home I have given above

L P2.7 /f o to

The House of Commons Administration wll process Ihe information you provide on this form for 1he purposeof administeri ng and accounting for lhe Members' Estimate,making payments and keeping records Inaccordance with the rules agreed by the House of Commons and the Inland Revenue. The Information willalso be disclosed to the National Audit Office fa< eudit purposes. The lnfa


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r ia il ler 7

TRANSACTION HTSTORY SEARCHING 10MAY05 16 : 39 PAGE 1 OFMILLER

SEARCHING DATES END TO START

PARTICULARSINT TO 31MAR A/C 10113269INT TO 28FEB A/C 101 13269INT TO 31JAN A/C 10113269I NT TO 03JAN A/C 10113269INT TO 30NOV A/C 10113269

292 TRANSACTIONS SEARCHED - 5 MATCHEDI NDEX 14 ACCOUNT> INVALID PAGE BACK

Date : 10/05/2005 Time : 16 : 56 : 43

PREMIUM - RB C MDESCRIPTIODEB ITS A N D r 1 - ' n ' ' f iSTATEMENTS ONLY}DEBITED CREDITED

2060 . 031835 . 411789 . 152103 .591800 . 02

DATE18APR0516MAR16FEB17JAN16DEC04

SEARCH COMPLETEQUALIFIER BRANCH


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Breakdown of Maria Miller's ACA/PAAE

Claims

Period

of claim Mortgage Utilities

Council

Tax

Tele-

comms Insurance

Cleaning

/service/

main-

tenance

etc* Other Total

May-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Jun-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Jul-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Aug-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Sep-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Oct-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Nov-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 1,800.00

Dec-05 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 54.00 1,854.00

Jan-06 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 200.00 2,000.00

Feb-06 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 65.00 200.00 2,000.00

Mar-06 210.00 235.00 280.00 725.00

Mar-06 1,439.00 125.00 150.00 21.00 230.00 200.00 287.50 2,452.50

15,829.00 1,585.00 1,650.00 231.00 1,115.00 934.00 21,631.50

Apr-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

May-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Jun-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Jul-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Aug-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Sep-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Oct-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Nov-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Dec-06 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00Jan-07 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Feb-07 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

Mar-07 1,439.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,840.00

17,268.00 1,740.00 1,800.00 252.00 1,020.00 0.00 0.00 22,080.00


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Period

of claim Mortgage Utilities

Council

Tax

Tele-

comms Insurance

Cleaning

/service/

main-

tenance

etc* Other Total

Apr-07 1,439.00 165.00 150.00 21.00 125.00 20.00 1,920.00

May-07 1,439.00 165.00 150.00 21.00 105.00 1,880.00

Jun-07 1,479.00 165.00 150.00 21.00 105.00 1,920.00

Jul-07 1,519.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,920.00

Aug-07 1,519.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,920.00

Sep-07 1,519.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,920.00

Oct-07 1,519.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,920.00

Nov-07 1,439.00 165.00 150.00 21.00 125.00 20.00 1,920.00

Dec-07 1,519.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,920.00Jan-08 1,439.00 165.00 150.00 21.00 125.00 20.00 1,920.00

Feb-08 1,439.00 165.00 150.00 21.00 125.00 20.00 1,920.00

Mar-08 1,519.00 145.00 150.00 21.00 85.00 1,920.00

17,788.00 1,860.00 1,800.00 252.00 1,220.00 80.00 0.00 23,000.00

Apr-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

May-08 2,000.00 2,059.99

Jun-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

Jul-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

Aug-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

Sep-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

Oct-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

Nov-08 2,000.00 2,000.00

Dec-08 1,369.92 1,369.92

Jan-09 654.79 654.79

Jan-09 502.77 2,101.52 2,604.29

Jan-09 837.26 837.26

Feb-09 648.90 286.82 727.31 1,663.03

Mar-09 408.55 418.50 816.72

19,264.63 1,862.88 2,101.52 0.00 727.31 0.00 0.00 24,006.00

Apr-09 164.68 164.68

Figures in italics denote that invoices were attached to the claim form for these costs.

* The figures for 2005-06 in this column are mainly for cleaning but also include 90 for gardening in March 2006.

The figures in this column for 2007-08 are for service/maintenance.


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2006, and

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1The origins of the matter therefore go back more than seven years, being the time period after which an inquiry requires

Committee authorisation which would be given only in exceptional circumstances (paragraph 6 of the Procedure for

inquiries). Mrs Miller has never suggested that the inquiry was wholly precluded by reason of the time passed. but it is

material that there is an element of staleness in the complaint and it is reasonable and inevitable that less evidence may be

available in some respects as a result.

2The proportion of Mrs Miller's claims for the years in question was an average of 61% of the actual costs under the relevant

heads of the second home.


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My further concern is that consulting another person inevitably entails more time and the ongoing nature ofthis inqui1y is the source of continuing but unjustified adverse comment against me. f though, you doconsider that the Director-General of uman Resources and Change should be consulted and that this isnecessary to assist you in order for this inquiry to be concluded, I cannot object to that course beyond what Ihave said above; but I would request that he be provided with a full copy of the document I provided to youon 1 July 2013. In this way, he will be able to understand the factual issues fully. This being so, the summary offacts you mention for consulting with him ceases to be needed or relevant.I would note, however, that I would not be content to agree the summary of facts in your letter in any eventand would ask that it not be used. The key facts are summarized clearly in my document of 1 July 2013. I donot think it is a good idea for any of those material facts as summarized there to be omitted or paraphrased inany consideration of his matter. Paring the summary down even further risks overlooking important facts ormisapprehending significant factors. Indeed, the summary in your letter appears to elide certain things orrelegate others from the picture and is not fully accurate in all respects. That is not intended as a criticism buthighlights the danger in trying to reduce what is already a summary.I would commend to you and ask you to adopt the summary in the document of 1 July 2013 If there are anyfactual aspects of that summary with which you disagree or about which you are not sure, please let me knowso I can have the fair opportw1ity to address any concerns you may have. Otherwise, it is important that theessential fuller facts inform your (and the Director-General s) consideration rather than a partial or reducedversion of hem.The use of the factual swnmary in the 1 July 2013 docwnent (and not the further summary) would I hopelargely avert the risks in the summary which I have alluded to above; but I also have a further concern relatingto point 6 of the summary in your letter which introduces mention of abatement. This is not something the 1July document addressed and goes beyond an issue of fact.In this regard, I am not entirely clear as to the meaning you ascribe to abatement nor how it would be relevantin this case I therefore do not understand why you have mentioned it in your short summaty and it wouldassist me ifyou could explain this further.In the meantime, it may help i f I say that I do not believe abatement (insofar as I understand it) is relevant. Iwas at the relevant time a mother with small children seeking to maintain a family life Even if my parents didnot live with me, the claims made upon the ACA would have been identical because of my familycircumstances. This is not a case where I have used the ACA in any way so as to benefit any member of myfamily. I had to have a second house solely and exclusively to fulfil my Parliamentary and constituencyobligations. There has been no part of my having a second home in order to house any member of my familywho did not have a home in respect of which no expenses were claimed; and no member of my family hasgained or is better off in any way at all as a result of my having to maintain a second home. As such,abatement is not an applicable consideration. Furthermore, as you will recall, the costs of my having a secondhome were well in excess of the ACA. Importantly, abatement in these circumstances would be a flawednotion to import as it leads to outcomes that amount to discrimination and which are contrary to the publicinterest in encouraging parliamentary diversity.I have addressed why abatement is inapposite only briefly here in anticipation that you will confrrm that it isnot part of your inquiry and not an appropriate consideration. If you are nevertheless considering abatement,as to which I should be grateful if you would let me know, it may be that I will need to deal with this morefully.I look forward to hearing from you further.5 ugust 2 13

30. Letter to t Hon Maria Miller MP from thCommissioner 8 August 2013Thank you for your letter of 5 August, in which you responded to my letter of 18 July t is clear from your

letter that you have some concerns about the process I am following for my inquiry, and I very much hope


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ariaMiller 7

that this letter will help to clarify the situation. As always, if you would find it helpful to discuss any of thesematters with me, please do contact me at the House.I would like first to answer your questions about why it is necessary for me to write to the Director-General,Human Resources and Change. I consider that, at this stage, I have acquired as much written evidence as I amable to in relation to this matter. The next stage of my inquiry is to seek advice about the relevant rules of theHouse. That advice will come from the Director-General, since, as you probably know, his department'spredecessor (the Department of Resources) was responsible for the administration of Members' claims forallowances during the period covered by the complaint. t is my usual practice, set out in the procedural notesent to you by my predecessor, to consult the relevant authorities for advice on the rules of the House, whichwill help me to conclude my inquiry. I do recognise that this will dd some time to my inquiry. I will ask theDirector-General, as I always do, to respond to me as promptly as he can.You have also asked about the information which will be given to the Director-General when I write to ask forhis advice. I hope it will reassure you to know that he will have all of the relevant evidence andcorrespondence, which will include the document you sent to me on 1 July. Once I have received his response,I will of course share it with you so that you have n opportunity to comment on it.However, I do consider tha t it is necessary for me to produce a short, factual summary. While the swnmaryyou provided with your letter of 1 July is very helpful, the section entit led relevant facts is four pages longand contains, in addition to the facts, some of the arguments you wish to make. There is of course nothingwrong with this. However, I do consider that the Director-General v.rill be best able to advise me if he candraw on a brief summary of the facts in addition to (and in no way instead of) the evidence I have received. Ialso consider that it is helpful at this stage to be sure that you nd I can agree on the basic facts. I wouldtherefore be grateful if you would let me have any comments you wish to make on the accuracy of theswnmary.Your letter also asks about paragraph 6 of my summary, and in particular the words you did not abate yourclaims to talce account of your parents' living costs. I intend this to mean tha t you did not reduce the claimsyou made against your parliamentary allowances. As you know, the complaint which I am investigating is thatyou claimed against your allowances for the costs of your overnight stays away from your main home in aproperty in which your parents lived, which provided them with an immediate benefit and which did not takefull account of their living costs. I therefore consider that the question of whether or not your claims tookaccount of these costs is relevant. I would like to make absolutely clear at this point that I have reached noview on whether or not you should have reduced your claims in this way.In each of the financial years relevant to this complaint, you claimed the maximum or almost the maximumamount permitted by the rules. In my letter to you of 25 April, I asked you whether you h d ever consideredwhether you should abate your claims to take account of the use your parents made of your London home.You told me, in your letter of 9 May, that you h d never claimed the full cost of your accommodation inLondon and that the presence of your parents in the house meant that you did not claim the full runningcosts. This evidence, together with the rest of our correspondence, will be available to the Director-Generalwhen I seek his advice and I will of course take it into account, together with your other evidence, when Icome to reach a conclusion on this inquiry.However, it is very important that we should be able to agree on any summary of the facts. I therefore suggestthat we amend paragraph 6 to remove the reference to abatement. Paragraph 6 of the summary would thenread as follows:

between ay 2005 and April 2009 you claimed against your parliamentary allowances for the cost ofyour London home. n each financial year the costs of your second home were greater than the amountyou were able to claim;

I would be grateful if you could let me know, in addition to any other comments you may wish to make on thesummary, whether you are happy with this amendment.In light of your letter, I think it would be helpful if I se t out the remaining stages of my inquiry. As I have said,on ce we have agreed a brieff ctual summary of your evidence I will write to the Director-General to seek hisadvice which I will share with you.


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Maria Miller 8

I do not propose to respond separately to each of the points in your letter. However I am sure you will recallthat the original complaint from r Mann on 11 December 2012 refers directly to the mortgage on yourLondon home and the claims you made against ACA from 2005 to 2009 in respect of that mortgage. Thisissue has always been part of my inquiry. As I have said to you before - for example in my letter of 5September - I do not draw any conclusions until I have all the evidence available and it was as I began todraw together my report that I identified some areas on which I required further information. At this stage Ireturned to issues regarding your mortgage which I had addressed in the earlier months of my inquiry but towhich I had not received precise responses.You will recall that I first asked you on 19 March why your mortgage increased in 2007. t was also alleged inthe original complaint that the interest you claimed related to a sum greater than the purchase price of theproperty which was said to be 234 000. If this allegation is correct I would need to consider whether theexcess interest claimed was a cost

wholly, exclusively nd necessarily incurred when staying overnight away from [your] m inresidence .. or the purpose ofperforming Parliamentary duties

as required in paragraph 3.1.1 of the April2005 edition of the Green Book. I can assure you that I am notrepeating the audit conducted by Sir Thomas Legg.You quote my letter of 10 October 2013 in which I said:

I believe th t I now have all the information which I need to complete my inquiry nd m sorry that thisfirst stage has taken so long.

I did indeed believe at that stage tha t I had all the information I needed and it was as I reviewed in detail andbegan to analyse the information I had that a particular gap in the evidence became apparent. That is why Iam now seeking further information.To be speciflc it appears to m e from the evidence available to me so far that you may have claimed mortgageinterest over and above tha t which was necessarily incurred to provide you and your family with a secondhome in London as part of your parliamentary duties. I have information from the House authorities whichgives a broad outline of your claims for mortgage interest and some basic information on the mortgage - Isent you copies of these papers earlier this year.I asked for the mortgage details because to conclude my inquiry I need to establish the original size of themortgage on the London property when and why it was increased and whetl1er any capital was repaid.On the way forward I will not arrive at any conclusions until I have received and considered all the evidence.You have been aware of tl1e outstanding issues which concern me since my letter of 23 October 2013. t isunfortunate that we have not been able to meet in person since I first suggested that we do so in my letter of12 September. I therefore hope to hear from you quickly and would like to interview you concerning thesematters either on the morning of Tuesday 17 December or failing that on the afternoon of Thursday 19December. Please conflnn which time you would prefer or ask your offlce to contact mine to arrange analternative if neither of hese is possible.I hope to conclude my inquiry as quickly as possible thereafter. fyou are not willing to meet me I will fmishmy memorandum to the extent that I am able and will send it to the Standards Committee after following theusual processes.I look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can resolve the outstanding issues quickly.5 December 2 13

44. Letter to th Commissioner from t Hon Maria MillerMP 12 December 2013

Thank you for your letter dated 5 December 2013.


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1This requirement reflects the general legal position that the subject of investigation is entitled to know the allegation he/she has toanswer. Any other approach would be contrary to natural justice and could head to all unfocussed and lengthy factual expedition

without proper bounds.


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Maria iller 9

I am sure that you will recall that, in the early stages of my enquiry, much of the emphasis of my questionsconcerned the designation of your main home and the availability of supporting evidence for the informationwhich you gave me about your movement between your two houses. However, even at that early stage, MrLyon made detailed inquiries about your mortgage in his letter of 12 December and I followed this up withquestions about your mortgage and remortgage on 19 March, 10 April and 25 April. You gave me somegeneral responses and it was when I came to the view that I had most if not all of the information I requiredand began to analyse the evidence towards the end of October that I realised that I needed further detailconcerning your mortgage in order to address that specific aspect of he complaint.I address your comments on the draft report following your numbering for ease of reference. As you will see Ihave accepted almost all of them

1. I have amended the report throughout.2. This sentence now reads, Her parents and two brothers came to live with them at that time as part

of a single family unit.3. Deleted as requested4. I have added, (Mrs Miller considers that this matter is not within the scope of he complaint.) and

a footnote reference to your letters.5. I have added, (Mrs Miller does not agree that Mr Mann raised two issues.) and added a footnote

reference to your letters .6. I have not set out paragraph 3 of Mr Lyon's letter at this point as I do not believe it can be

separated from his quotations of the Code of Conduct which follow, or that it fits here.7&8. I do not agree that the whole of paragraphs 7 and 8 were not included in Mr Lyons original letterand I have explained this above. I agree that he does not include the level of detail which I haveinserted relating to the reimbursement of interest, and I have added a footnote with reference to thisletter.9. Noted10 . I have added a note at the end of Mr Osborne's case which says Mrs Miller has offered an

analysis of he relevance of this report to her situation at WE 48.ll.Similarly I have added a note at the end of the summary which says Mrs Miller also offers a

comment on this case in WE 4812. I have removed the additional words.13. Noted14. I have added a quotation from Mr Andreae as follows and included his letter in the evidence:The second chairman, who was in post from March 2002 until March 2006 and again from September 2009

to March 2013, responded to me on 14 June8 . He was chairman during two periods covered by this complaintand told me;

8 WE 3


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aria iller 9

Maria was, and is an extremely conscientious MP and was (and is) in the Constituency on almostevery Friday and weekend on Constituency business. She attended numerous events .. mostly in theevenings.On Friday afternoons she held Advice Bureaus [sic] which were attended by constituents, byappointment,The Association does not, and never has, kept Marie's [sic] diary ... .

15. Noted16. All the recent letters including this one are now included in the evidence and footnoted where relevant17. Your letter is dated by hand as 18 February but was received in this office on 26 February. I attach aphotocopy. I have added a sentence at the end of the paragraph to say She was happy for me to see all thedocumentation. to soften any perceived abruptness.18. I consider that there is no need to repeat this paragraph again at this point in the evidence. The letteritself consists of detailed questions about the designation of your home, your parents' position and theiruse of the London house and raises the question of your mortgage and of possible witnesses. I havesummarised all of his but the letter itself is available in the evidence.19. I removed a specific sentence from my summary of the facts for the Director General in an effort tomove things on and seek your agreement to consulting him. I did not and have not agreed thatabatement should form no part of the factual matter My letter of 8 August says dearly, 1 therefore

consider that the question of whether or not your claims took account of these costs is relevant. Youacknowledge yourself in your letter of 12 September that the summary included in my letter to theDirector- General was for present purposes only . I have not amended this paragraph.20. I have removed the reference to the letter of 10 October but in the light of your comments have revisedthe whole of this paragraph which now says,

Having been unsuccessful in arranging a meeting 1 said in my letter of 23 October, in view of thedifficulties and to avoid further delay I suggest ..Tnow put together my draft report and send it to you withthe evidence 1 hold .. l 1find there are gaps in the evidence .. we could meet at that stage. I go on to say that

do have one question which T had fi rst asked on 19 March regarding the reason why the mortgage wasincreased in March 2007. \Vhile saying that this might not be relevant to my inquiry 1 asked for a responseon this issue.21. I think it is paragraph 87 which needs additional information. n order to make the report clear forthe Committee I have written it thematically which of course has both advantages and disadvantages. Atthis particular point, most of your letter as I have said raised questions about the process, which I haveaddressed in the subsequent section of the report. This starts immediately below my brief reference toyour letter of 12 December. To address your concerns I have

Removed the word againCorrected the evidence to include in full the letter of 11 NovemberAmended the paragraph to read;After a further exchange ofletters , Ms Miller wrote to me on 12 December raising issues about

the scope of my inquiry which she considered should be resolved before further investigationscould be pursued into these matters. Those arguments are considered in the section on theinquiry process below. In relation to my questions about her mortgage, she said,

With regard to the property, we purchased it in January 1996 for, as far as I can recall, 237,500. Themortgage was 1 believe about 90% of the then value. The property had not been occupied by theprevious ownersfor some time and they had let out individual rooms within the property so that it was


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Maria Miller 99

a house of bedsits ... the property itself had not been modernised for a number of years. Over thesubsequent years we necessarily set about carrying out work at the property. This was done on apiecemeal basis. This work was substantial and related to every part of the house. As property pricesrose from the mid 1990s onwards, we were able to fund thisfrom further advances on the mortgage.""

22. The footnote has been deleted.23.This section seeks to set out briefly the concerns which you have raised with me about the process. Itstarts with your document of 1 July. I agree it is a brief summary but all of your letters are referenced andincluded in the evidence. It also refers to some of the more detailed questions about your mortgage. t wasdrafted between Christmas and the ew Year when I had anticipated that you might decide to approachthe Standards Committee on this issue.I have now attached the very recent exchanges of letters between us to the evidence and have added thefollowing paragraphs to direct the reader clearly to the importance of considering your arguments in fullrather than a short summary within the report:In the event Mrs Miller decided not to write to the Committee but wrote again to me on 4 Januarl. She argued

that my predecessor's questions about the mortgage were to "establish a factual background with regard to aspecific allegation" and continued to maintain that I have been attempting to start a new inquiry. She suggestedthat she had understood from my previous letter, in which 1 said 1 did not need to pursue further factualenquiries that I was no longer maintaining my position and she therefore did not need to "trouble the StandardsCommittee" unless she was incorrect. Mrs Miller discussed the precedents which Thad advised her might berelevant and asked me to be more specij c.1 responded to Mrs Miller on 9 januari expressing concern about her approach and advising her that 1 hadnow completed the draft of the factual part ofmy Memorandum. I sent this and the evidence compiled at thebeginning of january. 1 asked Mrs Miller to respond to me with any comments on factual accuracy by 20January which she did. I have considered and accepted many ofher amendments and all the recent letters havenow been added to the evidence 11 With regard to Mrs Miller's concerns about the scope ofmy inquiry she hasasked me to highlight to the Committee the letters in which she sets out her position in detail. I accept that shemay feel that my necessarily brief summaries in the context of this report do not do full justice to her argumentsand am happy to do this. The relevant letters are the report of 1 July, 12 and the letters of 26 November, 12December, 6 January and 17 January. " 324 25. I have amended this paragraph to say I wrote to Mrs Miller on 10 October to make arrangementsto see her. She was not able to meet me on either of the two dates 1 suggested in the week of4 November andproposed the morning of the 15 November which was not possible for me. I wrote to her on 23 October andsaid "to avoid further delay 1 suggest that instead of meeting at this stage 1 will now put together my draftreport and send it to you ...If find there are then gaps in the evidence or outstanding issues, or ifyou wish todiscuss the report we could meet at that stage. "I then raised the question of the mortgage referred toelsewhere.26. I have amended this to read 1 said, 'You have been aware of the outstanding issues which concern mesince my letter of 23 October 20 13 ... . hope to hear from you quickly and would like to interview youconcerning these matters on either [two December dates] . Please .. ask your office to contact me to arrangean al ternative ij.neither of these is possible."27. Corrected and your additional letter is now included.

9 WE4610 WE47

W E48 WE4912 WE25 and 2613 WE42 44 46 and 8


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aria iller 1

28. I have added a sentence at the end Mrs Miller considers the st tement of facts set out under theheading The Relevant Facts in her report of 1 July 2013 to be more complete nd important to consider.29. I have amended this to say Since 2010 she has claimed costs in relation to her Basingstoke home.30. I do consider this paragraph to be important in explaining how the focus of family life shifted over theyears. he Committee may be happy to agree to its redaction before publication if you would like torequest this?I conflrm that I have now included your letter and my response as part of the evidence.I enclose with this letter a separate formal letter advising you that I have now submitted mymemorandum to the Clerk of he Committee who will be in touch with you.

3 January 2 14

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