Councillors' claims hit £800,000 for a year (From The Argus)

Councillors' claims hit £800,000 for a year

10:05pm Thursday 9th August 2007 in

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City councillors claimed £800,000 in allowances and expenses for the past year.

Campaigners fighting for a more prudent use of resources said that some councillors were earning too much as Brighton and Hove City Council's members published their annual allowances.

Opponents also branded the bill as a drain on struggling families.

The allowance bill is up £15,000 compared to the previous year mainly because all councillors' basic allowance increased by £230.

Top earner was Simon Burgess, former leader of the council and now parliamentary candidate for Kemptown, who earned £38,290 a year.

This included £10,681 for his basic allowance, £27,000 for his role as leader and £163 for travel and subsistence. Previous leader Ken Bodfish had taken home £33,622 the year before.

Other high earners include former deputy leader Sue John who was handed £27,000 and Coun Gill Mitchell, now leader of the council's Labour party, who took home £26,000.

The opposition leader at the time Brian Oxley, as well as the chairmen and women of the council's committees, all recouped around £23,000 from taxpayers.

The highest travel and subsistence allowance was claimed by former councillors Brian Fitch and Don Turner.

Mr Fitch, who lost his seat in Hangleton and Knoll at the last election, had been the city's representative on the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities.

This had guaranteed him £2,000 per year for his travels to destinations such as Venezuela and Poland. The city's membership has now been cancelled.

Next year's allowance has already been agreed and the bill to the taxpayer is set to rise by another £15,000.

Blair Gibbs, campaign director of the Tax Payers' Alliance, said: "The number of councillors and their expenses have increased enormously over the past few years.

"Some councils admit that there are too many.

"Along with city salaries for top town hall staff, expenses have become unaffordable and a drain on taxpayers, especially with families struggling with the demands of above-inflation council tax rises.

"Years ago it was considered a privilege to stand as a councillor, but now people can make a quite lucrative career for themselves out of local government."

But a recent report by the council's Independent Remuneration Panel found councillors were being worked very hard for their money.

It read: "Despite the time commitment involved and increasing demands placed upon them, we note that the concept of public service and civic duty continues to be clearly upheld by councillors.

"We accept that this concept of public service should remain and consider that a proportion of any time spent should be regarded as voluntary commitment.

"Notwithstanding the above, we believe that the council should provide a package of financial support which is reasonable, and will go some way towards addressing disincentives from serving in local politics.

"In the discussions with members it has become evident that councillors have difficulty in securing support from their employers for their council-related activities.

"It has also become clear that councillors find it difficult to maintain a work/life balance with council related duties having a significant impact on their lives."

Coun Brian Oxley, leader of the council, said that £38,000 was not an excessive allowance for the head of a large authority like Brighton and Hove. He said: "This is a city of 250,000 people and there are responsibilities from the huge amount of services needed. "The Government demands are a complicated business these days and it is more than a full-time job."

To see a full list of members' allowances and expenses click on the links below.

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Would you consider becoming a councillor after seeing some of the expense claims? Is being a councillor now more like a full-time job? Tell us what you think below.