MSPs across Scotland claimed almost £700,000 in quarter one of last year.
The 128 MSPs (not including Alison Johnstone as Presiding Officer) claimed for a range of expenses – from office costs and travel to evening meals and royal mail postage – totalling £698,482.
More than half of the claims, or £315,853, were for office-related costs, including rent, utilities and equipment.
The SNP, Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Green MSPs also charged £197,951 for Edinburgh accommodation, mostly overnight hotel stays.
They also claimed £57,855 in travel costs for them and their staff, including mileage fees, rail, taxi fares and parking.
Some were reimbursed for as little as 33p for Royal Mail postage, including four Tory MSPs – Miles Briggs, Craig Hoy, Russell Findlay and Jeremy Balfour.
The MSP with the highest total of claims was Stuart McMillan, Greenock and Inverclyde SNP MSP.
McMillan’s claims totalled £18,418 for the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year.
The bulk of this came from one expense – £7800 for what was described as “ventilation costs”.
The former MSP for West Scotland also spent £1224 for a monthly surgery advert in the Greenock Telegraph, as well as £960 for advertising boards at Greenock Morton Football Club and Greenock Cricket Club.
The next highest claimant was Siobhian Brown, Ayr SNP MSP, who claimed £12,665 followed by Emma Harper, South Scotland SNP MSP, with £12,630.
The bulk of their total expenses were for office start-up costs, office rent and accommodation near Parliament.
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A spokesperson for Siobhian Brown said: “Like every elected member, Brown has utilised parliamentary resources to support helping her constituents and representing them in the Scottish Parliament.
“2022/23 was the financial year in which Brown opened her office which accounted for the bulk of her expenses.”
The new Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Brown was elected in May 2021, and was the only one of the top five largest claimants who replied to a request for comment.
As for the top five, Scottish Tory MSPs Sharon Dowey and Oliver Mundell (below) round it out. They claimed £11,667 and £11,461 respectively.
The MSP for South Scotland, Dowey got reimbursed £2985 for rent for Edinburgh accommodation as well as £2932 in council tax.
Mundell, the Tory MSP for Dumfriesshire, is helping to keep the Royal Mail afloat with a hefty claim of £6079 in mailing costs. He was also reimbursed for £2200 in printing and photocopying costs.
The lowest level of claims was submitted by Lothian MSP and Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, with a shoestring £120 worth of expenses.
It was for just one claim – advertising in Midlothian View, a news website for the Midlothian area.
The second lowest was Jeremy Balfour, Tory MSP for Lothian, with £353.
Douglas Ross topped the podium for party leader expenses. He claimed £8528, mostly for rent in Edinburgh. He also got reimbursed £106.70 for dinner and refreshments with staff at a hotel on the island of North Uist.
The next highest claimant was First Minister Humza Yousaf, who claimed £6044, mostly on office rent. He was followed by Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with £5208.
Anas Sarwar claimed £4843, with Scottish Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater the thriftiest of them. Harvie claimed £4396, with Slater claiming just £120.
As a party, the Scottish Liberal Democrats claimed the most per MSP.
Expenses for their four MSPs totalled £6904 on average, although two of them – Liam McArthur and Beatrice Wishart – represent the Orkney and Shetland Islands respectively, with notable expenses for air travel.
The 64 SNP MSPs claimed £356,223 in total, or £5707 per MSP. They were followed by the Scottish Tories, who were reimbursed £156,477 in total. This amounts to £5048 per MSP.
Finally, Labour’s 22 MSPs claimed £88,311 or £4014 on average. The Scottish Greens meanwhile, can take the crown for the thriftiest party, at just £24,543 or £3506 for each of their seven MSPs.
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