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All MPs, regardless of political party, have the use of a budget to pay for the costs of the various aspects of their parliamentary duties.
Kitty is paid a salary for being Member of Parliament, however she is also granted a number of other allowances to enable her to undertake her duties as MP both in Burnley and in Westminster. Kitty does not recieve this money personally. The amount used by each MP is published by the House of Commons authorities and can be found here clicking here
There are a number of different types of allowance that Kitty uses to fund various aspects of her role.
Kitty uses her "incidental expenses" budget to maintain her office in Burnley town centre, which is open to members of the public from 10am to 5pm every week day. She uses her staffing budget to employ 4 people to help in her work, including two people dedicated to casework.
In 2006 this team took on 1521 cases from constituents and Kitty 62 surgeries across the borough. Kitty has helped constituents with a wide variety of issues ranging from traffic to immigration, through to housing and pensions and benefits.
The "Communications Allowance" is used fund two parliamentay newsletters and meet the running cost of this website. It also enables Kitty to respond to petitions signed by constituents.
Her "Additional Costs Allowance" is used to maintain a terrace house in Brixton, South London, which she uses when she has to be in London during the week while working in Westminster on her parliamentary duties. Her main home remains in Burnley, situated just off Manchester Road and this is where she lives when not in Westminster at weekends and during parliamentary recess.
Kitty uses her travel budget to for her weekly train journeys to Westminster
These allowances do not fund any party political activity.
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