From 2003 until 2011, Godman was a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. In 2008, it was revealed she charged the taxpayer around £30,000 for hotel bills although she was renting a flat from her son Gary Mulgrew. She did not qualify for the rental expenses allowance as her main residence in Glasgow was too close to Holyrood to qualify, but claimed rent rather than hotel expenses. She was entitled to an overnight expenses allowance that permitted MSPs to recoup expenses for each night, which she had paid for the rent of the apartment. It was confirmed that she had neither broken the Parliamentary rules, nor benefited in any way.