Council Leader's £50 Cab Rides Home
16th September 2008
Taxpayers in Worcestershire paid more than £800,000 to their county councillors in allowances and expenses last year – including £50 cabs home for the council leader.
Documents released to your Worcester News under the Freedom of Information Act reveal Worcestershire County Council’s 57 elected members claimed more than £36,000 in travel expenses between them in a year, on top of the £770,000 they got in annual allowances.
The expenses included £245 claimed by Tory council leader George Lord for five taxi journeys between Birmingham and his home near Bromsgrove, which cost the taxpayer about £50 each time.
Dr Lord shunned alternative methods of travel including the 23-minute train journey from Bromsgrove to Birmingham New Street, which costs £5.50 for a peak-time return ticket, and the direct bus service, which would cost him nothing with a pensioner’s railcard. The 22-mile round trip in Dr Lord’s own car would have cost the taxpayer £8.69 in fuel.
But a statement released by the council insisted £50 taxis were the most appropriate way for the leader to travel to Birmingham.
It said: “In these circumstances, when Dr Lord was attending meetings in central Birmingham, the use of a public taxi was seen as the most appropriate form of public transport travel and allowed Dr Lord to commit the journey time to council business.”
The vast majority of the expenses claims covered members’ costs for driving to County Hall. With the council’s petrol allowance set at 39.5p per mile, members who live 20 miles from Worcester can claim about £16 per day to get to work.
The biggest claimant was Conservative cabinet member for children’s services Liz Eyre, who accepted a total of £3,653.22 for travel. She said: “I’m not surprised – I have to go to County Hall from [my home in] Broadway virtually every single day. It’s a long way. The cabinet member for children’s services probably goes to County Hall more than most.
“And even when I’m not there, I’m going to Redditch to see the schools there, I’m going to Bromsgrove, I’m often in Malvern. Basically with my job, I’m in appointments a lot.”
The council’s second highest claimant was Coun Lord, who collected £3,251.89, while third was deputy leader Adrian Hardman, who lives in Bredon and claimed £2,186.81.
At the other end of the scale, there were 12 councillors who did not claim a single penny on expenses – including Conservative cabinet member for the environment Derek Prodger, and leader of the Labour opposition John Buckley. Both live in Worcester.
Coun Prodger said: “I don’t think any cabinet member does more miles than Derek Prodger. My job takes me all over the county with highways maintenance, with waste disposal and with passenger transport. I’m quite prepared to bear my costs – it doesn’t inhibit me.”
In addition to their expenses, all councillors were offered a basic allowance of £8,799.84, although Labour councillors only took £8,604.40 after refusing last year’s full pay rise.
Councillors with extra responsibilities were then paid additional allowances on top, ranging from £5,678.71 for cabinet members’ assistants, to £30,316.54 for council leader Dr Lord.
Source; Worcester News
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