Allan's Press

Wednesday 14th April 2010 

ECHO Newspaper article

Baron raised £87k against property... 7 years ago

MP John Baron took out a personal equity loan of £87,283 against his second home – and taxpayers have been left footing a huge interest bill.

The lump sum was released from the equity on the Billericay and district’s MP’s second home in Bramble Tye, Noak Bridge, in 2003.

This means taxpayers’ have so far paid about £23,000 in interest on that loan.

During a ten-month investigation, the Echo has been denied information about the equity release, until after the Freedom of Information watchdog stepped in on our behalf.

The MP was ordered to pay back £8,821 to the taxpayer in February after the Sir Thomas Legg review deemed he broke expenses rules and should not have released equity of £34,035 on another loan in 2004.

Now the Echo can reveal details about this earlier and more substantial loan – he has so far not paid a penny back on the interest accrued from the £87,283 loan.

It was not picked up in the Legg Review, which only looked at second homes claims dating back to 2004.

Documents released under Freedom of Information laws show Mr Baron agreed the first £87,283 interest-only equity release loan with the HSBC bank on June 25, 2003.

It was in the same month Parliament updated its expenses rules, making it crystal clear interest on remortages could not be claimed unless the borrowing was to fund repairs or maintenance to the property.

It is not clear what has happened to either lump sum. Mr Baron was able to borrow against the property because its value soared in the years following its purchase for £153,500 in September 2000. The parliamen-tary fees office, which came under fire during the expenses scandal for lax checks and balances, paid him the money for interest on both remortgages, despite the claims breaching its own rules.

Jeremy Brevitt, parliamentary spokesman, would not be drawn on why this happened. He said: “The House is not offering any further comment on the case of John Baron nor on the (second home allowance) rules in 2002/03 save to refer to the guidance set out in the various editions of the Green Book.”

Mr Baron refused to comment on the £87,283 remortgage – other than to say it was agreed by two parliamentary fees officers from spring 2003.

He sent a copy of a letter he got from the fees office, which he said proved his remortgage arrangements had been agreed.

The letter, sent in March, addressed concerns he raised after the Legg Review ordered him to pay back £8,821.

After Mr Baron paid back the money, he issued a statement saying he had agreement from the fees office to remortgage.

He said the interest he was repaid through expenses could be offset against expenses he incurred, but chose not to claim. He said this was £250 a month on petty cash and about £200 on food, plus smaller amounts on mobile phone and family travel costs.

He claimed there had been no financial benefit in the complicated arrangement, despite a lack of accountability.

The fees office letter confirms there was at least one other MP with a similar arrangement.

Terry Bird, a senior director in the fees office, wrote: “The rules were changing substantially at this time, and I know this has caused problems for a number of members whose financial affairs did not keep pace with the changing rule book.

“I can confirm around this time at least one other member entered into a not dissimilar agreement with the fees office, so your agreement was not unique.”

He said he could not pinpoint precise details, but conceded he understood why Mr Baron believed it remained in place.

His letter said staff from 2003 had either left or had no accurate recollection of the agreement, and documents from 2003 were destroyed several years ago.

It added: “It is understandable you felt the agreement was still in force until very recently given the fees office fully reimbursed mortgage interest costs following the regular submission of annual mortgage interest statements.”

Mr Bird even apologised to Mr Baron for the “inconvenience” this had caused.
 

Friday 2nd April 2010

Pizza Express coming to Bas Vegas outlet
 

A NEW pizza restaurant is coming to Basildon.

Pizza Express will open in the building left vacant by Romano’s Macaroni Grill, on the Festival Leisure Park, last June.

It will be the first Pizza Express in the district.

The nearest branches are in Southend and Brentwood.

Alex Whitelaw, a spokeswoman for the company, said she expected the restaurant to open later this month.

She said: “It is due to be up and running at the end of April, although we do not have an exact date.

“We don’t know exactly how many people will be employed at the restaurant, but we do recruit from the local area.”

Romano’s Macaroni Grill and Chili’s, which was also based at the leisure park, went into administration last summer. Both were run by parent company Hatfield Restaurants.

Bosses at the park and councillors have welcomed the news of Pizza Express’s arrival. They believe it will be a boost for trade and jobs in Basildon.

Allan Davies, ward councillor for Fryerns, said: “I’m glad a disused building is being filled. It shows our economy is growing and business must be booming.

“This is great news for people looking for work in Basildon, with such a well-known employer moving into the town.

“I’m sure it will be well used.”

Amanda Mills, market director at the park,said: “It’s a very popular brand and a bit different to what we already have here.

“It means people who haven’t been to the park previously might like to visit.”

Friday 2nd April 2010

I’ve set up Question Time event at school

A TEENAGER has organised a “question time” event to get more youngsters interested in politics and encourage them to vote at the forthcoming general election.

James Paton, 18, anticipates an exciting debate between the three main men who will compete for the Basildon and Billericay constituency seat.

Existing Tory MP John Baron, Alan Davies, the Labour candidate, and Mike Hibbs, for the Lib Dems, have all agreed to take part.

The event will take place in front of 200 pupils at Billericay School, where James is a student on Friday, April 30, at 11am. This is just a week before May 6, which experts believe will be the day of the general election.

James, who lives in Billericay, began organising the event in January.

He said: “The style of the debate is based on BBC’s Question Time and there will be a big audience who will be able to ask questions to the panel on a variety of topic areas.

“The aim of this debate is to try to increase voter turnout within the sixth form by encouraging them to participate in debate and give them the opportunity to see who their local candidates are.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily young people aren’t interested in politics these days. It’s more they don’t have the information about who their representatives are.

“There seems to be an information failure when it comes to youngsters and politics, in my opinion.

“Traditionally there is a low voter turnout for teenagers in this area, so I’m hoping this debate may make a difference on election day.”

James, who has always been interested in politics and is planning to go to York University to study philosophy, economics and politics, added: “Hopefully there will be some good questions, so it could be an interesting morning!”

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

BILLERICAY AND WICKFORD GAZETTE -  Candidates ready for election fight

WITH the General Election just around the corner, the main parties have put forward their candidates for both the Basildon and Billericay seat and the new Rayleigh and Wickford one.
Conservative John Baron will be standing for the Basildon and Billericay seat, which will be created at the next General Election.
"I am not taking anything for granted," he said.
"The elections are a chance to get our message across and I will try to be as good a constituency MP as possible."
Under new boundary changes, the existing Billericay and District will be split, with Billericay gaining three wards from the Basildon and East Thurrock constituency – Lee Chapel, St Martins and Fryerns – and Wickford falling into the Rayleigh constituency.
 Mr Baron said: "I am sorry to be losing Wickford and to no longer be representing this community.
"Over the years, I have made a lot of good friends and will be keeping in touch.
"But in politics you have to accept what changes come."
Conservative Mark Francois, who currently represents Rayleigh, will be contesting the newly merged Rayleigh and Wickford seat.
The Labour Party has put forward Allan Davies to fight for the Basildon and Billericay seat.
He said: "It's all to play for. I was born and grew up in Billericay.
"I am a local candidate who understands the issues and this is something I will be putting across," he said.
"If the people of Billericay want to vote for someone who understands the area, that is me."
He added: "I have also pledged not to claim for a second home and will be commuting into London."
Mike Le-Surf will represent Labour when he stands for the Rayleigh and Wickford seat.
He said: "I am feeling positive about making a good impression but have lot of work to do because there is a big gap between us and Mark Francois.
"I just hope people will look towards the parties that work hard all year round and not the UKIP and the BNP who seem to just pop up around election time."
The UK Independence Party has confirmed that Alan Broad will be standing for the Basildon and Billericay seat.
The BNP has also announced it will be putting up candidates in both constituencies, as part of an Essex-wide campaign.

Thursday 11th February 2010

Council wants to save £10m in next 3 years

Basildon Council wants to save £10million over a three-year period by giving work to private firms.

The council plans to make the savings by contracting maintenance of its grounds, catering and marketing to outside companies.

The controversial proposal to boost council finances, by March 2013, will be thrashed out by councillors at a meeting tomorrow.

It will form a key part of talks surrounding the council's budget, between April 2010 and March 2011.

Phil Turner, Conservative councillor responsible for resources, said: “Despite the background of a worldwide recession and greater financial pressures on us, we have still managed to deliver significant savings while maintaining a good level of service to our residents.

“We will continue to deliver value for money quality services to our residents, while identifying further savings which reduce the burden on the taxpayer.”

Allan Davies, Labour ward member for Fryerns, voiced his concerns.

He said: “It is important service delivery to the residents of this district comes way before the Tory council’s value-for-money schemes.”

A report on the budget has also recommended spending money on improving leisure services throughout the district.

But the exact council tax rise is still being kept under wraps until a meeting with all councillors on February 18.

Earlier this week, the Echo revealed the council will maintain free weekend parking at council-run car parks for another year, at a cost of about £100,000.

It has also spent another £100,000 as part of Essex County Council’s £320,000 scheme to upgrade paving in Wickford town centre.

Other schemes include spending £70,000 a year on community events, which includes £20,000 on St George’s Day celebrations and £50,000 on the Basildon Festival, plus other summertime events.

Around £30,000 a year will be spent on promotions for the Towngate Theatre, in St Martin’s Square, Basildon, while another £30,000 a year will pay for the upkeep of trees across the district.

Thursday 7th January 2010

164 homes planned for former gym club site

A NEW housing estate could be created on the site of a former sports club.

Developer Bellway Homes wants to build 164 houses on the South Essex Gymnastics Club land off Cranes Farm Road, Basildon.

Spokesman Julian Kenyon said: “Our plans involve building a selection of two, three, and four-bedroom homes, plus 25 affordable homes.

“Hopefully we will commence the development this spring.”

The council has just received the planning application and full details are expected to be released to the public in the next few days.

The plans came after Basildon Council sold the gymnastic club’s land and premises – as well as Markhams Chase Leisure Centre in Laindon – to Bellway for £7.9million, as revealed in the Echo.

Basildon Council sold the sites to help pay for the £38million sporting village complex currently being built in Gloucester Park.

The gymnastics club will move into the sporting village once it is completed, hopefully by April next year.

Deputy Labour group leader Allan Davies, a ward councillor for Fryerns and Labour parliamentary candidate for Billericay, opposed the plans.

He said: “This estate development is not driven by a need for housing.

“This area of land was needlessly sold off by the Conservative council in order to contribute millions to the cost of building the regional sporting village.

“It’s clear to me the people of Basildon’s wishes are being ignored in favour of a grandiose sports complex the rest of Essex and beyond will be using.”

But Frank Tomlin, the council’s cabinet member responsible for housing who backed the sporting village, believes the area’s housing needs would be reviewed before the plans were passed.

He said: “This is a case where individual members of the development control and planning committee will make an independent decision, not based on their political party.”

Tuesday 1st December 2009

Pressure mounting on MP John Baron over remortgage

A CONTENDER for John Baron’s parliamentary seat has called on the MP to go public with a written agreement he says he was given to remortgage his second home at taxpayers’ expense.

Last week, the Echo revealed a deal Mr Baron says he struck with the fees office in 2004, to re-mortgage his Noak Bridge property and claim the interest instead of submitting some other expenses, was outside official commons rules.

According to the fees office, re-mortgages are only allowed to cover home improvements.

However, he told Tory colleagues the re-mortgage which saw his monthly interest soar by 40 per cent, was done with Parliament’s agreement and he has it in writing.

Allan Davies, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Billericay, said: “If he has proof of this agreement in writing, then I challenge him to make this public to bring some transparency and resolution to this matter. I have written to him about the issue.”

Mr Baron is refusing to discuss the matter with the Echo, but meanwhile has removed an open letter from his website, in which he declared he had carried out no improvements at the second home.

According to local Tories, Mr Baron also says his expenses have been cleared by “various” Parliamentary watchdogs.

The Echo has learned that both Sir John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Standards and Privileges have not looked into his claims, as they have received no complaint.

Both the Legg Review and a Tory scrutiny panel are looking into his expenses, but the findings are not yet public.

Tuesday 10th November 2009

Expenses inquiry’s findings put on ice

A TORY investigation into a steep rise in MP John Baron’s mortgage interest will not be published ahead of a Parliamentary probe.

Conservative leader David Cameron, who says all his MPs should be open about their claims, ordered a second look at Mr Baron’s expenses after the Echo pointed out he was refusing to explain a 40 per cent rise in interest for his Noak Bridge second home, which is paid for by taxpayers.

Financial experts told the Echo the rise could be one of two things – a discounted deal coming to an end or a significant release of equity from the property, the latter of which would breach expense claims rules.

Conservative Central office promised to publish the findings of its review at the first opportunity in the interest of “complete transparency”.

However, it now says its conclusions are being put on ice until the findings of the Sir Thomas Legg review, into all MPs’ second home claims, are revealed later this year.

Allan Davies, Labour Parliamentary candidate for the Billericay seat at the next general election, said: “David Cameron set up a Tory scrutiny panel and made it quite clear it had nothing to do with the Sir Thomas Legg review, so why the need to wait?

Mr Baron has refused to explain the rise since it was revealed in the Echo, in June, when all MPs’ claims were partially published.

Stuart Dickson, a member of Billericay and District Conservative Association, has given Mr Baron until tomorrow to explain the increase or he will launch a petition calling for a public meeting over the affair.

September 24th 2009

Billericay Town Council By-Election.

Turnout was higher than expected at the Billericay town council by-election for the South West Ward. On Thursday September 24th voters turned up to participate in local democracy.

Labour Candidate Alan Bennett said “I’m naturally disappointed that I didn’t win despite being the only candidate who stated that I would honour the non-political nature of the Town Council. However, the extremely low vote for the BNP proves that there is not a place for them in Billericay or in Essex and ultimately the UK.”

Labour Parliamentary Candidate Allan Davies who acted as campaign agent added: “This was not a 2 horse between UKIP and BNP as the UKIP candidate stated. We fought a hard campaign and urged voters to participate in local democracy. It’s surprising that the Conservatives and Liberals did not put up candidates. Perhaps it’s because they don’t see it as a priority.”

The result in yesterday’s Billericay Town Council by-election:
Susan McCaffery (UKIP) 480
Alan Bennett (Labour) 266
Tony Gladwin (BNP) 95
Turnout 24.84%

4th September 2009

Labour Candidate supports campaign to curb fat cat wages

Basildon and Billericay’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate Allan Davies has signed a statement calling on the government to tackle top earners’ wages.
He wants the Government to set up a high pay commission to regulate how much directors and chief executives can get paid. The campaign was initiated by the centre-left think-tank Compass and has the support of the TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and many Labour MPs.
In 1997, the low pay commission was set up to help implement a minimum national wage, a policy that has implemented greater fairness and economic stability. Now over 100 leading figures have signed the statement calling for a high pay commission to be set up. They include politicians, academics, writers, economists who have put their names to a statement calling on the Government to take action on excessive pay.
The Compass statement declares “The crisis we find ourselves in is one principally caused by greed. The salaries of those at the top raced away while the average wage stagnated. Inequality grew, and an economic crisis ensued.”
Furthermore, Compass wants the Government to take a “moral lead” by setting “reasonable pay structures” in public bodies including banks part-owned by the taxpayer.
Cllr Allan Davies: “I support the idea of setting up of a high pay commission. It’s obvious the high wage bonus culture has not been curtailed.  I find it deplorable that an employee working a 40 hour week earning the minimum wage would have to work for around 226 years to receive the same remuneration as a FTSE 100 CEO does in just one year”.
 

Letter to John Baron MP for Billericay  About Expenses Claims
 

4th July 2009

Dear John Baron MP,

I am writing to you over the issue of MP’s expenses. As you are well aware the Echo has been reviewing your expenses and publishing them in the interests of transparency and openness.

The expenses claim that has puzzled me most is the value of your mortgage interest payments which grew by 40% over six months in 2004.   In April 2004, your monthly claim was £860, and yet in October 2004 this had increased to £1205.  By looking at the records it is clear that the Bank of England base interest rates did not drastically increase in those 6 months and stayed between 4 and 4.75 %.

Having looked closely through your website I can see that you provide a simple explanation on your perspective into the expenses issue and this is commendable but on this particular issue of the 40% increase in interest payments I cannot find one word of explanation. You have refused to talk to the press about this but I believe the people of your constituency would very much like to know how you are spending taxpayer’s money. That is why I am writing to you to ask you to write to me with a detailed explanation of how such a sharp increase occurred during those 6 months.

You rightly say on your website, "The issue of MPs’ expenses has rocked public confidence in Parliament and politics." I hope there is a perfectly valid and good reason why there seems to be a discrepancy with the interest payments because that confidence desperately needs to be restored and only through total transparency, honesty and openness can this be achieved.
I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Regards

Cllr Allan Davies
Labour Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Basildon and Billericay.