Brown to repay £12,415 in expense claims

An independent audit of all Member of Parliaments\' expenses claims since 2004 found that Prime Minister Gordon Brown should repay £12,415, according to a report on www.bbc.com.



Downing Street confirmed he would repay the money, largely for cleaning and gardening, even though the claims had been within the rules at the time.



It said auditor Sir Thomas Legg had \"deemed\" that any annual claims above £2,000 for cleaning and £1,000 for gardening should be repaid.



Some MPs are annoyed that new limits are being applied retrospectively.

Downing Street said the cleaning limit of £2,000 a year covered domestic cleaning, window cleaning, dry cleaning and laundry.



In Brown\'s case the £12,415 ($19,614) is made up of £10,716 for cleaning claims above Sir Thomas\'s £2,000 annual limit, £302 spent on gardening above the annual £1,000 limit recommended and a £1,396 decorating bill that was \"inadvertently assigned by error to two quarters\".



A Downing Street spokesman said Brown had \"always supported this process and will cooperate fully and make the necessary repayment\".



He added: \"Mr Brown\'s expenses have always been cleared by the House authorities as entirely consistent with the rules. He has not claimed the maximum level of expenses. The review says its findings \'carry no implication about the conduct or motives of the MPs concerned\'.\"