Why did the The Clerk – Malcolm Jack allow his team to ‘approve’ these outrageous claims in the first place when anyone with two brain cells to rub together would say NO?!!!
Perhaps it was his own troughing to the tune of £100k that persuaded him that ‘it was the right thing to do’?”
From The Times February 5, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3308659.ece
“The property at 3 Parliament Street used by Malcolm Jack, the Clerk, the Commons chief executive, received a top-of-the range makeover, with a £39,000 kitchen, bespoke furniture, including a “butler’s tray”, and granite work surfaces. The same inventory also lists two Ionic columns costing £963.
The extent of the overhaul includes:
– A new kitchen costing £39,146, including £2,694 for a granite work surface, £4,974 for appliances and £971 for flat-screen kitchen television and appliances.
– A guest bathroom for £4,652.
– A bespoke storage cupboard for £2,300, a Sherwood 2.5-seat sofa for £1,543 and black walnut Sherwood chairs for £3,666.
– A wood floor for £2,985, new carpets for £598 and a black slate hearth for £1,500. Curtains for £4,758.
– A butler’s tray and lamp table for £1,835 and knife-pleat empire lamp shades for £158.
The list also includes furniture polishing in the “patio area”, a ceramic table lamp, a £1,095 “deep clean” and the upholstering of chairs.
Several entries on the itemised list say only “furnishings” or “redecorations”. The total bill for spending on 45 separate items on the property between March 2005 and June 2007 is £102,254.82.
The Clerk acts as accounting officer for expenditure in the House of Commons, making him legally responsible for its budget and 1,600 employees. The Finance and Administration Department, often called the “Fees Office”, is answerable to both the House of Commons Commission and the Clerk as chief executive.”