Leeds City Council publishes allowances and expenses report for public scrutiny

Leeds City Council has today published its annual report for councillors’ allowances and expenses for 2008/09.

The Leeds City Council Members Allowances Scheme provides for each councillor to receive a basic allowance of £14,634.72 a year, which is inclusive of all telephone and office expenses and all expenses relating to travelling and subsistence within the city.

Councillors who also hold special responsibilities in relation to the authority are entitled to receive a special responsibility allowance, for example, the leader of the council, members of the council’s executive board or those who hold the position of chair for a council committee.

Additional expenses can only be claimed in instances where councillors have to travel outside the Leeds metropolitan area for council business. For the year 2008/09 the total expenses claimed for all 99 councillors was £2,414.

In accordance with legal requirements, the council has established an independent remuneration panel which provides advice on the allowance scheme and which the council must have regard to when making amendments.

Councillor Richard Brett, joint leader and executive member responsible for finance, said:

“In Leeds we have worked to ensure we have an allowance scheme that is absolutely transparent and fair.

“We were one of the first local authorities in the country to voluntarily establish an independent remuneration panel in 1999, some two years before it became a statutory requirement in 2001, and the panel continues to provide valuable independent advice and guidance on the makeup of the allowances in Leeds.

“We will continue to work to ensure that we have a members allowance scheme which is transparent and fair and open to public scrutiny.”

Ends
Notes to Editors:

Details of members’ expenses and allowances for 2008/9 are available by contacting the council press office on tel: 0113 2243602.
Details of Leeds City Council’s Members Allowances Scheme are available by clicking on the e-mail address below and downloading the Part 6 Members Allowances Scheme report:
http://intranet.leeds.gov.uk/page.aspx?pageIdentifier=f7b67a5f-5d91-41d6-aaca-2ac3752b4ccd