AM gives up second home allowance

Alun Cairns will not claim for a second homes in 2009/10

A Conservative Welsh assembly member is to stop claiming an allowance for a second home which is about 20 miles (32km) away from his constituency.

Alun Cairns had been criticised after claiming around £10,000 for a second home in Cardiff despite living around a 30 minute drive away in Ewenny, Vale of Glamorgan.

The South Wales West AM has now decided not to claim the allowance in 2009/10.

Welsh Conservatives leader Nick Bourne announced the decision at a briefing.

Published allowances Mr Cairns claimed in 2006-2007, covering second home mortgage interest, electricity, furnishings, meals and subsistence came to £11,700.

Mr Bourne and Mr Cairns were previously criticised for claiming a total of £398 for their iPods on expenses.

They later reimbursed the assembly and donated money to charity.

Following that incident in December, the Conservatives conducted a review of expenses in the assembly.

Mr Bourne said that Tory AMs now have a policy of informal peer review, where they examine each others expenses before submitting the claims.

He spoke out after details of MPs expenses were published in the Daily Telegraph.

Among those attacked for their claims was shadow Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan, who claimed £4.47 for dog food as part of her parliamentary expenses.

The MP for Chesham and Amersham has apologised and has promised to pay back the money, saying she was "absolutely mortified".

Mr Bourne said that Ms Cheryl Gillan is "personally upset" by the way the expenses story came out in the press.

Mr Bourne said that she was very close to her dogs, both of whom have now died.

She accepts that she made a genuine mistake, and had apologised, he added.

During the Conservatives' briefing at the assembly, Nick Bourne announced that Alun Cairns has told the group that he won't be claiming any second home allowance for 2009/10. Alun Cairns has been criticised in the past for claiming for a second home, despite living in Ewenny, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

When asked about the Conservatives own review of expenses here in the Assembly, announced when Nick Bourne's claims were made public, Mr Bourne said that Conservative AMs now have a policy of informal peer review. They now examine each others expenses before submitting the claims.

Nick Bourne also said that Cheryl Gillan is personaly upset by the way the expenses story came out in the press. Mr Bourne said that she was very close to her dogs, both of whom have now died. She accepts that she made a genuine mistake, and had apologised.