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Birmingham MP Liam Byrne said staff had done the work voluntarily or while they were on leave
By Elizabeth Glinka
BBC West Midlands Political Editor
A parliamentary investigation has upheld a complaint against a Labour MP for using expenses to help his failed bid to become West Midlands mayor.
An Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority report found "overwhelming evidence" one of Liam Byrne's staff worked on his 2021 campaign while contracted and paid by Parliament.
MPs cannot use taxpayer-funded allowances for political campaigns.
The MP said campaign work by staff had been voluntary or done while on leave.
The report says the Birmingham, Hodge Hill MP will not be asked to repay the funds because of the difficulty in establishing the exact number of hours the staff member worked, but also because of the delay in the investigation.
It says the delay was due to a previous parliamentary investigation concluded in 2022 which found Mr Byrne had bullied a member of staff.
Ipsa said the amount of work done on the mayoral campaign by the MP's staff member was "conservatively" about 1,000 hours.
No sanctions against Mr Byrne are proposed in the report.
It recommends staff contracts are clear and MPs need to sign a declaration about parliamentary staff not working on political campaigns.
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