Councillors’ expenses show slight increase
Katy Loudon only claimed £80
More than £64,000 was spent covering councillors’expenses in South Lanarkshire over the past year.
Figures released by South Lanarkshire Council this week show the area’s 64 elected members claimed £64,212 in 2017/18, on top of salaries totalling £1.2 million.
All councils have a statutory requirement to publish information on councillors’ salaries and expenses in respect of the previous financial year.
This year’s expenses figure is a slight increase on the £63,231 of 2016/17. The figure stood at £69,042 in 2015/16 and £84,476 in 2014.
Councillors can claim for car mileage, other travel expenses, the cost of training and conferences, subsistence costs and expenses to cover telephone and IT bills.
The biggest expense to the council over the past year was travel, with £40,539 reimbursed to cover councillors’ mileage costs.
The second largest outlay for the authority was telephone and IT usage, which amounted to £11,085.
A further £8946 was paid for councillors to attend training and conferences.
The civic car, used by the leader of the council, cost £220, while the Provost’s civic car cost £8042 for the year.
The lowest expenses for councillors in the Reformer circulation area was from SNP Councillor Katy Loudon, who covers Cambuslang East. She claimed just £80 for telephone and IT costs.
The highest bills in our patch were for Labour opposition leader Walter Brogan, who represents Cambuslang East, with £1615. However, car mileage costs accounted for £1038 of this figure.
This was still less than half of the highest single expenses bill for South Lanarkshire Council. This came from Councillor Catherine McClymont, who covers Clydesdale North, with £3787.
The authority’s councillors were paid basic salaries of £15,369 (for those who were elected for the first time this year) and £16,878 (for reelected members).
Several also received additional payments for chairing committees and filling roles with additional responsibility.
Councillor John Ross, leader of the council, had a basic pay of £36,504; while Provost Ian McAllan received a salary of £26,410.
Paul Manning, executive director of finance and corporate resources for SLC, said: “Elected members have a wide and varied role to play – from attending formal committee meetings in Hamilton to going to meetings and events with constituents and local groups across the South Lanarkshire area.
“Additionally, depending upon their responsibilities, councillors may also attend Scotland-wide groups.
“Reasonable travelling and subsistence expenses are provided to elected members in order that they can fulfil their role as effectively as possible.
“The amount of members’ remuneration and expenses and the arrangements for paying them are governed by legislation. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration and Severance Payments) Amendment Regulations 2015 (SSI 2015/007) amended the primary legislation and came into force on 1 April 2015.” Councillor Janine Calikes, SNP Basic pay - £15,369; expenses - £282; total salary and expenses - £15,651; total salary after tax and NI - £11,679. Councillor Martin Lennon, Labour (elected on November 23, 2017) Basic pay - £5,995; expenses - £88; total salary and expenses - £6043; total salary after tax and NI - £4570. Councillor Jared Wark, Conservatives Basic pay - £15,369; expenses - £794; total salary and expenses - £16,163; total salary after tax and NI - £14,607. Councillor Robert Brown, Lib Dems Basic pay - £16,878; expenses - £90; total salary and expenses - £16,968; total salary after tax and NI - £13,372. Councillor Margaret Cowie, Labour Basic pay - £15,369; expenses - £282; total salary and expenses - £15,651; total salary after tax and NI - £14,095. Councillor Carol Nugent, SNP Basic pay - £16,264; expenses - £436; total salary and expenses - £16,700; total salary after tax and NI - £12,479. Councillor Walter Brogan, Labour Basic pay - £22,949; expenses - £1615; total salary and expenses - £24,564; total salary after tax and NI - £20,903. Councillor Alistair Fulton, SNP Basic pay - £22,989; expenses - £85; total salary and expenses - £23,074; total salary after tax and NI - £12,589. Councillor Katy Loudon, SNP Basic pay - £22,989; expenses - £80; total salary and expenses - £23,069; total salary after tax and NI - £16,801. Councillor Ann Le Blond, Conservatives Basic pay - £15,369; expenses - £282; total salary and expenses - £15,651; total salary after tax and NI - £8962. Councillor Margaret Walker, Labour Basic pay - £15,369; expenses - £282; total salary and expenses - £15,651; total salary after tax and NI - £8875. Councillor John Bradley, SNP Basic pay - £19,718; expenses - £1131; total salary and expenses - £20,849; total salary after tax and NI - £15,635.
Elected members have a wide and varied role to play