A GOVERNMENT minister from Greater Manchester spent thousands of pounds of public money on improvements to his two homes – including £300 for a garden shed.

Paul Goggins, MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, was able to claim for a new bathroom, a kitchen, carpets and a £3,000 leather suite after twice ‘flipping’ his second home designation.

MP's expenses latest

He claimed for the shed at his home in Salford in 2005. He said: “It was a replacement for a shed that had been there for donkey’s years. I replaced it with a fairly modest one.”
He also spent almost £4,000 setting up a new constituency office 15 metres from the old one. He said he needed more space as case work had increased. Mr Goggins, the Northern Ireland minister, is among the first of the region’s 31 MPs to willingly open his accounts to the M.E.N.

He says he has claimed fairly for ‘equivalent’ replacements when items broke or wore out.
When Mr Goggins, 55, became a minister in 2003 his London home was automatically redesignated as his main residence and he started to claim his second home allowances for expenses at his house in Boothstown, Salford.

'Flipped'
When the rules changed in April 2006 allowing ministers to have their main residence outside London, he ‘flipped’ his properties – this time designating his family home in
Salford as his main home and claimed his second home allowance on his terraced house in the capital.

The father-of-three said:“I know my constituents are very angry, all I can do is explain my thinking.” Mr Goggins claimed £305 per month for his mortgage on his Salford
home between April 2004 and April 2006. He claimed about £650 per month for his London mortgage and regularly claimed up to £350 per month for food. On his Salford home,
 he spent £1,058 on refurbishing his bathroom in October 2004.

MP's expenses latest

He claimed for a £2,140 carpet in November 2004, and £712.71 for decorating a bedroom and bathroom in February 2005.
In September 2005 he spent £297 on a new gate, £198 on repairs to wood work in a box room and £644 on new carpets.

The next month he spent £183 on a new window blind.
He spent £690 on his garden in November 2005 which included the £300 shed, £108 on skip hire, and £40 on turf. In December 2005, Mr Goggins spent £184.94 on bedroom furniture, £164.50 getting his chimney swept, and £1,000 rebuilding a wall.
 In 2006, he bought a new suite, including two sofas, a chair and a foot stool – totalling £2,826. After switching his main home back to Salford, he refurbished the kitchen at his London home at a cost of £6,398.