Allowances and Expenses
I believe that people have a right to know how much their elected representatives are paid and how much they claim in allowances and expenses.
Some of this information is published each year. MP’s office costs and allowances are published annually, and some details of councillor’s expenses are also published each year. This is a legal requirement.
I believe I am the first elected politician in Leicester – including City Councillors and Members of Parliament - to offer full details of my allowances and expenses voluntarily on my website.
Transparency in politics is very important and that’s why I am fully supportive of previous calls to open up MP expenses using the Freedom of Information Act. In my view it is crucial that we have full transparency and disclosure of allowances and expenses in local government as well as in Westminster.
You can find details of my allowances and expenses below.
Rory Palmer
14 April 2008
Allowances
As an Elected Member of the City Council I receive the standard annual allowance of £9,500.
I also receive a travel allowance of £96.50 per month (£1158 per year) which pays towards the costs of travelling to meetings in my ward and across the city on council business.
All allowances are classed as any other income. Therefore I pay income tax on these allowances and National Insurance Contributions are deducted.
Who gets paid what?
Some Councillors receive Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) which are payments in addition to the Standard Allowance paid for certain council responsibilities.
The Leader of the Council is paid £44,500.
The Deputy Leader of the Council is paid £22,250.
Members of the Council’s Cabinet receive £14,250.
*The Leader and Deputy Leader’s Special Responsibility Allowance includes payment for Cabinet responsibility; i.e. they do not receive the Leader/Deputy Leader SRA and a Cabinet allowance
Chairs and vice-chairs of committees also receive Special Responsibility Allowances. For example the chairs of the Planning & Development Control and Licensing Committees each receive £7,500, and the vice-chairs of these committees receive £3,750.
Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Scrutiny Task Groups are paid £5,500 and £2,750.
The Leaders of the opposition political groups also receive additional allowances. This allowance is £1,000 plus £250 for each member.
On this basis the Leader of the Conservative Group receives £3,000.
The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group receives £2,500.
The Leader of the Green Group receives £1,500.
For full information on the Leicester City Council Members Allowance scheme see: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/council-and-democracy/local-democracy/members-allowance-scheme
Office equipment costs
Each councillor can claim up to £770 per year from their Member Support Package.
£1545 is available for new councillors in their first year of office.
This budget can be used by councillors to purchase equipment and resources needed to carry out their jobs. When equipment (such as a computer) is purchased for an individual councillor’s use, it remains the property of Leicester City Council and is returned to the council when a councillor leaves office.
The Member Support Package is also used to pay for councillor’s telephone and mobile bills (only for calls made in carrying out council business).
Since May 2007 (when I was first elected) I have claimed the following from the Member Support Package:
Purchase of office equipment including computer and shredder | This includes purchase of essential office equipment including computing equipment. | £355.73 | |
Purchase of office consumables including printer ink cartridges | This is the cost of ink cartridges to use on a printer which I have purchased personally not using council allowances. | £56.98 | |
Mobile phone costs | This includes my monthly call bills and the purchase of a mobile Blackberry device so I am able to access emails from constituents at all times. This includes monthly line rental costs and call bills for the period August 2007 – January 2008. | £158.83 | |
Other | This is for a reduced price subscription to the Municipal Journal – a weekly publication about developments and news in local government. | £49.00 | |
Total | £620.54 | ||
I fund personally my own broadband internet connection at my home which is used for dealing with council e-mails and council business.
Many councillors claim for the costs of their home internet connection.
When I travel to meetings and events outside Leicester on council business my personal policy is not to make expense claims for food and drink.
It is possible under the Council’s Expenses Scheme to claim up to £48.80 per day for meals if a councillor is away from Leicester on council business.
Additional expenses
Councillors can claim additional expenses above the standard allowance payments for travelling to meetings and events outside Leicester.
In the last year I have claimed £48.92 in additional expenses towards travel costs for my travel to two councillor’s training weekends run by the IDEA at Warwick University.
I have also claimed £49.00 for return off-peak travel to London to attend a meeting with Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government.
Other responsibilities
In addition to my ward responsibilities I am also:
Chair of the Leicester Partnership Executive Working Group on the 2012 Olympics
A member of the Board of Directors for the 2009 Leicester Special Olympics
A member of the Leicester Cultural Strategy Partnership Executive
A Member of the University of Leicester Court
I receive no payment or expenses for these additional responsibilities.
Election expenses
Election expenses are submitted and publicly declared under the Electoral Administration Act 2006 and other legislation.
All election candidates have to submit election expense returns after an election. These are submitted to the Returning Officer and are scrutinised by the Electoral Commission.
For my election to Leicester City Council in May 2007 my total election expenses were £593.12.
The maximum expense limit for this election in the Eyres Monsell ward was £745.87.
My campaign received donations totalling £593.12 from the Labour Party, Leicester City Council Labour Group Campaign fund, and the Eyres Monsell and Freemen Branch Labour Party.