Bradford councillors claim £1.8 million, a fall of £20,000 (From Ilkley Gazette)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting IGNEWS to 80360, or email
Bradford councillors claim £1.8 million, a fall of £20,000
10:00am Thursday 1st November 2012 in News
By Jo Winrow, City Hall Reporter
A total of £1.8 million was paid out in allowances and expenses to Bradford’s 90 councillors last year, a drop of around £20,000 on the previous year.
Members are entitled to claim a basic “wage” which recognises the time the job entails. In addition they can make limited claims for travel, accommodation and meals on Council business.
Some councillors – such as group leaders and those on the decision-making executive – receive a special responsibility allowance.
It is the first time the bill has reduced in recent years, and is partly down to the scrapping of a special responsibility allowance part way through the year. It followed a review which recommended in December that a special allowance of more than £12,000 a year paid to the chairman of the miscellaneous licenses panel be removed.
The ad hoc panel determines applications for village greens, sex shops and lap dancing clubs and had only met once in the previous 18 months.
In addition the amount claimed for mileage has actually fallen by £8,000 on the previous year.
The statement of earnings, which is published annually, shows that from April, 2011 to March, 2012, a total of £1,803,348 was claimed, with the basic amount for every councillor remaining frozen at £13,042.
During this period there were 35 councillors who claimed more than £20,000 each. Of these, eight took more than £30,000, and one councillor claimed £50,000.
The highest earner was Ian Greenwood, who represented Little Horton for Labour until May. As leader of the Council he was paid £50,471. This included a special responsibility allowance of £35,899. The second-highest was Councillor Glen Miller (Con, Worth Valley), who as leader of the Tory group from May, 2011, claimed £39,759.
A total of £20,409 was claimed in mileage, £1,652 for trains, £770 for taxis and buses, £551 for hotels, £228 for parking, and £73 for subsistence.
Councillor Ralph Berry (Lab, Wibsey) claimed a total of £39,057.
The allowances are expected to reduce this financial year, after changes were voted through in July that save £100,000 a year. Despite these cuts the Council agreed last month to find an extra £35,000 to cover the allowances of the three Bradford councillors who will sit on the new policing panel after elections for a commissioner on November 15.
Comments(17)
Joedavid
says...
10:24am Thu 1 Nov 12
The number of councillors should be cut for a start 90 of them too many.
The extra payments to leaders etc. should be reduced by a very large amount.
Joedavid
says...
10:24am Thu 1 Nov 12
The number of councillors should be cut for a start 90 of them too many.
The extra payments to leaders etc. should be reduced by a very large amount.
Baildonboy
says...
10:27am Thu 1 Nov 12
Also,what about pension entitlements which they receive.They need to be disclosed too.
We are not getting the full facts here
Baildonboy
says...
10:27am Thu 1 Nov 12
Also,what about pension entitlements which they receive.They need to be disclosed too.
We are not getting the full facts here
Baildonboy
says...
10:27am Thu 1 Nov 12
Also,what about pension entitlements which they receive.They need to be disclosed too.
We are not getting the full facts here
Baildonboy
says...
10:27am Thu 1 Nov 12
Also,what about pension entitlements which they receive.They need to be disclosed too.
We are not getting the full facts here
Outraged English Subject
says...
12:18pm Thu 1 Nov 12
Outraged English Subject
says...
12:18pm Thu 1 Nov 12
huggy b
says...
12:18pm Thu 1 Nov 12
More Ham
says...
12:18pm Thu 1 Nov 12
BertSanders
says...
12:54pm Thu 1 Nov 12
I do not think they will tell us "plebs" - they will conive a good tale at election time, and then ignore us..
cockadoodledo
says...
4:59pm Thu 1 Nov 12
The number of Councillors for each ward should be cut from 3 Councillors to just 2.
The Councillors would serve 3 years as before.There would only need to be an election twice in three years, this would make a massive savings.
collos25
says...
5:36pm Thu 1 Nov 12
Reality001
says...
5:43pm Thu 1 Nov 12
Baildonboy wrote:Yes the Councillors pay tax and national insurance on these payments
If these expenses are a form of wages do the Councillors pay tax & NIC's on them ? Also,what about pension entitlements which they receive.They need to be disclosed too. We are not getting the full facts here
Saltaire Bantam
says...
6:51pm Thu 1 Nov 12
They are just legalised thieves.
room124
says...
8:07pm Thu 1 Nov 12
collos25 says...
10:08am Thu 1 Nov 12