Why the Mayor of Havant is under the spotlight...

FREEDOM of information requests have thrown the Mayor of Havant’s expenses into the spotlight.

An FOI request to

Havant Borough Council, submitted by Bart

Smith, former Havant Conservative Party deputy chairman, showed that in the eight months between July 2020 and March 12, the mayor Cllr Prad Bains had received £1,500 in allowances.

Of this total, £1,287.55 was for clothing items for the mayor and the mayoress - including a Christmas elf costume - as well as £110 for charitable donations, and £102.45 for petrol for driving to official appearances.

Mr Smith, who lives in Chicago, where he is the chairman of the Chicago branch of the Tory Party, said: ‘Every mayor, whatever their political party, will incur some expenses fulfilling their duties, but designer gear, numerous outfits and coats that dwarf the weekly jobseeker’s allowance are inappropriate items to charge to the taxpayer - especially at a time of national crisis.

‘Whether it’s our current mayor - or mayors past they should set an example and spend appropriately or risk detracting from the wonderful work they do for local causes.’

Councillors for Havant Borough Council are permitted an allowance of £5,891 per annum.

The same FOI request showed that Cllr Diana Patrick, mayor of Havant from May 2019 to July 2020, received a personal allowance of £2,045.50, of which £1,255.50 was expenses for clothing items. A personal allowance of £2,485.15 was paid to Cllr Peter

Wade when he was mayor of Havant from May 2018 to May 2019, £1,025.05 of which was reimbursement for clothing items.

Cllr Bains said: ‘Out of every recent mayor, I have received the least amount of remuneration.

‘If you look back into records for previous mayors, they’ve all received far, far more in allowances than I have.’

Cllr Bains, Conservative ward councillor for the Hart Plain ward, was the youngest mayor to be elected by Havant Borough Council when he took over the role aged 24. The former Cowplain School student was elected to represent the Hart Plain ward in 2018. He said that despite the discord, he was proud of what he has achieved in office so far, especially raising money for charity Hannah’s Holiday Home.

He added: ‘I’ve done over 120 events, when most other mayoralties have stopped throughout the pandemic.

‘I engage with every single resident that I possibly can, throughout the year I’ve been so lucky to meet so many incredible people and go to wonderful places across our borough.

‘People have seen how much I’ve managed to do across the borough.

‘We’ve raised nearly £10,000 for Hannah’s Holiday Home without having a single usual fundraising event, no supermarket bucket collections, no coffee mornings, no classic car runs.

‘I led Think Pink week, engaged nearly 10,000 children across the borough in support of raising awards for Hannah’s Holiday Homes.

‘I led Waterlooville Helping Hands in supporting some of the most vulnerable in our community through the pandemic.

‘I’ve been incredibly proactive - I’ve made the most of this unique year, and really done all I could have done for the borough.

‘I’m really proud of what we’ve managed to achieve this year.’