Members Travel Expenses

Last Thursday at the lengthy Full Council meeting, a motion was presented to the council from Cllr's Woodley and Longley urging the council to remove in borough travel expenses and issue all councillors with a bus pass.

Whilst the issue wasn't discussed at this full council, it will, no doubt, be heavily discussed at the next Economic & Environmental Scrutiny.

Over the past year some £7,000 was claimed in both in and outer borough travel expenses. Over the past four years I have claimed for both in and outer borough travel expenses.

In my first year and a half as a councillor I didn't claim a penny in travel expenses and found myself at times out of pocket.

During the past year and a half I have been claiming for travel expenses but have found for me, that it is actually pointless. As all travel expenses are liable for tax, I am taxed at 40% on all travel expenses and for the £10/20 a month that I have received on occasions felt it wasn't worth the effort to complete a claims form!

I do believe that some members are wrong for claiming for travel reimbursement for attending mayor functions or for sitting in meetings which they are not members for like Cllr Assenheim for instance.

I believe that clearer guidance needs to be issued to all members as to what they can and can not claim for. The problem with the current motion is that issuing bus passes to all members solves nothing.

Sometimes confidential information is given to councillors and I believe that there is a stronger chance of this type of information going astray on public transport. Also, after a certain time at night buses don't run so how are you supposed to get home?

But the biggest question is how much this has cost the council by launching an investigation into this matter. My hunch is that it has cost more than the £7,000 members claimed in expenses!