THE taxpayer was billed nearly £1,500 by a councillor to look after her child during her online council meetings.

Husband and wife councillors, the Big Lemon CEO Tom Druitt and former mayor Alex Phillips are Green representatives on Brighton and Hove City Council.

Cllr Phillips' expenses claim came under the "dependant carer's allowance", which aims to stop women from struggling financially due to childcare costs and having to stand down as councillors.

Newly published expenses reveal Cllr Phillips claimed a total of £1,458 for childcare for the financial year ending April 2021.

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The bill was almost five times the total of all other councillors' expenses combined, not including the subsidised parking and bus passes. It covered a time when all city council meetings were being held virtually due to the pandemic.

Cllr Druitt would have attended some of the same meetings as his wife, some of which would have gone on late into the evening.

In the previous financial year Cllr Phillips, the Green Regency representative, claimed £1,799.96 for childcare, which was also within the council's agreed rules.

During that year, Cllr Phillips also served as South East MEP and mayor of Brighton and Hove City Council.

The combined salary of these roles was more than £100,000.

Both yearly totals for childcare exceed any childcare claim by a city councillor in the last 20 years.

Brighton and Hove's Green Group said: "Cllr Phillips is a parent of a young child, and irrespective of whether meetings are virtual, we believe both parents and carers benefit from support with childcare to enable them to fulfil council duties.

"We would like to remove barriers that can prohibit people with parenting or caring responsibilities from taking part in local democracy and being able to fully participate in meetings."

The Argus has asked who has been providing the childcare services to Cllr Phillips.

"We are proud that Brighton and Hove City Council provides support to parents where they need to arrange childcare and makes a positive offer to those with caring responsibilities," the Green Group added.

"This change was one of the recommendations of the Fawcett Society’s report on increasing access to local government for women and carers, that was put to councillors at a public committee meeting."

The Fawcett Society's report aimed to tackle the issue of town halls being male-dominated.

It claimed councils do not support women, who still have the bulk of caring responsibilities, to stand, stay in office, and to progress.

The report said: "Women councillors experience patchy provision for maternity, childcare, and flexible working – access to this vital support should be a right, not a matter of luck.

"We found some councils that do not cover the costs of childcare or dependent care at all, and many who offer inflexible or unnecessarily limited support.

"This causes women to struggle financially and in some cases stand down as councillors. Even when allowances are reasonable, the way they are reported can deter women from claiming."

The only other councillor to claim last year under the "dependant carer's allowance" was Labour representative Nick Childs.

The councillor for Queen's Park claimed a total of £84.00. In the previous year, he claimed £364.50.

In 2019, Cllr Childs stepped down as the council's education chief after it was revealed he sent his daughter to £40k-a-year Roedean School.

The Labour Group said: "One of Councillor Childs’ daughters attends an independent school, as a consequence of a means-tested bursary.

"Childcare and dependent care allowances are set by the Independent Remuneration Panel to enable all councillors with caring responsibilities to attend to Council business.

"Councillor Childs has made use of this allowance on a number of occasions to cover after-school care for his youngest daughter in order to enable him to attend late council meetings."

Care costs are paid to councillors rather than carers.

The hourly rate for cared-for children and dependent care rose to £9 per hour - the equivalent of the Living Wage.

Councillors can make the claim for children aged under 14.