A MILLIONAIRE peer has claimed more than £20,000 in allowances from the House of Lords by saying that a small rented flat occupied by his brother is his main home. Last week he could not even remember its address.
Lord Bhatia, a businessman and philanthropist, has lived with his wife in a £1.5m home in southwest London for 20 years. Almost two years ago he decided to “flip” the designation of his primary residence to a two-bedroom flat in Reigate, Surrey, which has been his brother’s home for three years. The town is a mile beyond the M25 motorway, a boundary used by peers to define whether they live outside London for expenses purposes.
By saying the Reigate flat was his main home, Bhatia was able to claim lucrative “overnight” allowances from the Lords. Peers whose main home is outside the capital are able to collect £174 a night as reimbursement for the cost of a hotel or maintaining a second home while attending parliament.
Bhatia could not remember the address of the flat when repeatedly asked last week. He had to look it up and even then misspelt the name of the block. A neighbour could not recall him living there, but Bhatia insisted he had spent many weekends at the flat and said he intended to move there with his wife when he sells his family home.
Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, said he would be writing to the police and the Lords asking for an investigation into Bhatia’s claims. “These reports warrant full investigation by the House of Lords authorities and the police. This seems to be a misuse of parliamentary money to fund private or family arrangements,” he said.
In recent months The Sunday Times has highlighted the need for an overhaul of the Lords’ expenses system. Unlike the Commons no new legislation is being introduced to change Lords’ allowances, despite a series of scandals.
The police are already investigating the overnight allowance claims made by Baroness Uddin and Lord Clarke of Hampstead following inquiries by this newspaper. Uddin faces fresh questions about her travel expenses as it emerged that she claimed for 89 round trips to a flat at which her neighbours had never seen her.
Bhatia is a 77-year-old Labour party donor who sits as a crossbencher. He is a successful businessman who has been prominent in several charities. After being made a peer by Tony Blair in 2001, he went on to lead the Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust which was formed to open and run city academies. He quit the board of the trust after a government inquiry found evidence of financial and governance mismanagement at the charity.
The Sunday Times began looking into his allowance claims after examining his record in the Lords. Although his attendance record is high, he has taken part in only 15% of votes since becoming a peer and has not spoken in the House for four years. Some peers are known to “clock in” frequently, securing a daily attendance allowance without staying to do any work.
Bhatia lives in a family home in Hampton, southwest London, estimated to be worth £1.5m. It is flanked by long lawns that lead to a second house he used to own, now the home of his daughter. It is 15 miles from Westminster.
In March 2006, Casley Finance, a company owned by Bhatia, began renting a two-bedroom flat in a modest 1970s apartment block in Reigate, 23 miles from Westminster.
His brother, Sultan, who is company secretary of Casley Finance, moved into the flat at around the same time. Sultan, who works for a charity, had left his family home after a marriage break-up. Casley Finance continued to pay the rent, service charges and utility bills.
In October 2007, Bhatia informed the Lords authorities that he had changed his main address from “London to Surrey”. In the next six months he claimed £12,247 in overnight allowances. Although the figures have not yet been published, he was entitled to claim at least as much again before he changed his main address back to London in January this year.
Last week Bhatia said he rented the Reigate flat because his Hampton home was too big and he and his wife wanted to downsize to a smaller property. He said his allowance claims were justified even though he continued to live in Hampton. He said he spent 40%-50% of his weekends while the Lords was sitting sharing the flat with his brother, although his wife occasionally came with him.
There was little evidence that the flat was where he normally lived. He has always given Hampton as his main address to Companies House and the electoral register.
Bhatia admitted he stayed in Hampton during last year’s recess but said he went to Reigate when he “needed to go there”. He said he did not need to stay at the flat during recess because these were not periods when he could claim expenses.
“During the parliamentary period when you’re sitting . . . you claim the night allowance. Outside the parliamentary period, during recess . . . it’s entirely up to me to decide to stay in either of the two houses.”
On Thursday Sultan told a reporter he “looked after” the flat for his brother who stayed at the property “from time to time”. The flat’s only next-door neighbour said of Sultan: “He has lived there for about two or three years. He lives alone and rents the place.”
Bhatia said he redesignated his main address back to Hampton earlier this year because he became ill and could no longer get to Reigate at weekends. He said he had acted within the rules, as he believed the flat had been his main home.
“I rent it and I intend to move there,” he said.
“I’m negotiating with the owner to sell the flat so we could then move there and dispose of this house, because I need to sell this house and move out to a smaller place.”
Source:The times
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