County councillors’ allowances slightly down on last year

County councillors received taxpayer-funded allowances of £1.75m in 2016-17, official figures published by the council show.

The sum is slightly down on 2015-16 when councillors got £1,767,838 compared to £1,744,978 this year – a drop of £22,860.

KCC sparked controversy recently when its members awarded themselves a 15% rise in allowances – claiming it brought them level with increases in salaries for public sector workers.

They did so despite an independent panel recommending they accept a rise of just 1.5%.

The additional 15% will equate to about an extra £200,000 on bills over the next four years.

Of the bill this year, £1,070,775 was for the basic allowance all members qualify for – £12,805.

Additional money is paid for KCC leader Paul Carter last year received £57,280 in allowances paid for by taxpayers those with special responsibility such as cabinet members. This accounted for £558,383 of the overall sum.

Travel expenses were also added to the bill with £106,903 claimed for car use by members on official council business.

However, far less was spent on trains and buses, with members claiming just £7,598 for public transport.

The Conservative leader Paul Carter was the highest paid, receiving a total of £57,280 of which £42,109 was his allowance for being leader.

Taxpayers also funded the use of taxis by members to the tune of £5,367 – with the former deputy leader Cllr Alex King, who is no longer a member, claiming £3,370.40, the lion’s share of the sum.

And taxpayers also met the costs of the council’s three chauffeur-driven cars, which came in at £35,749 compared to £48,178 the previous year.

Among the figures, it emerged no one claimed any money to cover the costs of looking after a child or other family member, an additional allowance introduced so those with caring responsibilities are not out of pocket.

And the lowest claim was for £2 to cover the costs of postage – made by Cllr John Davies (Con).