Kiwi caught up in political scandal

A former New Zealand dentist, Sir Paul Beresford, has been caught up in the scandal at Westminster over expenses claims.

Sir Paul, a Conservative MP in the British Parliament, was born in Levin and started his dentistry practice in this country.

He designated his west London property, which includes his surgery, as his second home on his parliamentary allowances, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

Sir Paul, who was named last year as the 34th "most influential" dentist in Britain, cut a deal with the House of Commons fees office that allowed him to put three-quarters of the running costs of the property on British taxpayers. The MP for Mole Valley in Surrey claimed that the arrangement was cheaper for the taxpayer.

Before his election to Parliament in 1992, the property - two floors of a Georgian town house above a hairdressing salon in Putney, south-west London - was registered with the local council as 50 per cent residential and 50 per cent business.

He had set up two surgeries in the flat, which were served by three dentists. On becoming an MP, Sir Paul decided to reduce his practice and work part-time, and charged three-quarters of the costs of the flat to taxpayers.

Sir Paul said that, at this stage, he had only one surgery and that the patient waiting room doubled as his private lounge in the evenings.

He increased his practice in 2007 and took on a larger share of the running costs, putting 50 per cent on the taxpayer.

Last year, he began to convert the surgery back to its original state and stopped claiming second home allowances and said he would not claim again in future.

Sir Paul told the Telegraph his expenses claims on his second home were among the lowest in the Commons, adding that he had suffered financially as a result of cutting back his surgery hours and by not claiming for a separate second home.

- NZPA