Herefordshire Council expense claims increase

4:06pm Wednesday 19th September 2012 in Local News By Bill Tanner

HEREFORDSHIRE councillors claimed £681,555 in expenses over the past financial year, with the biggest rise coming in claims for travel, food and drink - up by more than £25,000 on the previous sum.

The final overall figure was up from £676,262 the previous year and breaks down to basic allowances (£422,782 up from £416,999 in 2010/11), special allowances (£195,859 down from £221,708 in 2010/11), and travel and subsistence (£62,914 up from £37,555 in 2010/11).

The cash-strapped council continues to pay out six figure salaries too. Outgoing chief executive Chris Bull stayed on the same £183,724 salary (including fees and allowances) he had over 2010/11 with £38,766 worth of pension contributions (up from £37,479 in 2010/11) pushing his total remuneration up to £222,490 - a rise on the £221,203 figure from the previous year.

Forty-five per cent of Mr Bull’s salary is surcharged to the Primary Care Trust (PCT).

This week the future for the post was caught up in another council secrecy row - see more on this story in tomorrow’s Hereford Times.

Other big earning posts on the council over the 2011/12 (as confirmed by the latest statement of accounts) were:

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• Deputy Chief Executive - £129,999 (45 per cent surcharged to the PCT) pushed up to a total remuneration of £157,428 by £27,429 worth of pension contributions - up from a £151,736 total the previous year.

• Director for Places & Communities - £111,909 pushed up to a total remuneration of £135,683 by £23,612 in pension contributions - up from £22,279 on the 2010/11 total paid to the post’s previous title Director of Sustainability for Places & Communities.

 

• Chief Officer - Finance and Commercial (formerly director of resources) £102,808 pushed up to a total remuneration of £124,500 by £21,692 in pension contributions - down from the £22,279 previous year.

Salaries for the deputy chief executive and director of places & communities represented rises on the figures for 2010/11.

That for the deputy chief executive was up by nearly £4,000 on the £126,027 paid to a title assumed in April 2010, and that for the Director of Places & Communities rose by nearly £2,300 on the £109,212 paid in 2010/11 to the previous title.

Both salary and total remuneration the Chief Officer - Finance and Commercial fell from the 2010/11 figures (salary - £102,808 down from £109,212 in 2010/11 and total remuneration £124,500 down from £131,491).

 

The council currently has 129 employees on total remuneration (excluding pension contributions) of between £58,000 - £185,000. In 2010/11 there were 147.

Five employees are earning between £110,000-£185,000, one on between £100,000-£105,000, one on £90,000-£95,000, two on £85,000-£90,000, two on £80,000-£85,000 and 118 on £50,000 and £80,000.

The council paid out a total of £211,000 in compensation for loss of office to its head of asset management (left in June 2011 with £57,135), head of communications (left in April 2011 with £34,281), head of policy and performance (left in April 2011 with £34,281), assistant director, safeguarding and vulnerable children (left in June 2011 with £30,381).

Each of these payouts were boosted by pension contributions that, in total remuneration, ranged from £65,833 - £39,139.

All told, the council paid out just over £3m in “exit packages” covering the cost of compulsory and other redundancies over 2011/12, up from just over £2 million the previous year.

 

Comments(43)

probono says...
4:41pm Wed 19 Sep 12

The gravy train rolls on. Some Ward members are never seen in the Parishes they represent, and totally out of touch with their communities. Its just a nice little earner when retired or the farm is making no money.

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Ubique5740 says...
5:20pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Not just snouts in the trough but front trotters as well.
Standby for Bobby47' comments.

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fordshire77 says...
6:00pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Is it really any wonder no body has any respect for the council with 129 on between £58k-£185k and what do we get from our Cllr’s for this….that’s right NEW SIGNS welcoming you to Hereford where you can get shafted by your local council!

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Gillian1961 says...
6:01pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Have you ever seen a slim councillor, No because there getting paid for food and drink filling there stomachs, have you ever seen a councillor walking to meetings No they get paid travel cost , and i do not mean public transport, most of these councillors have had a increase of around about £20,000 this year, there should try living on the minimum wage.

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littlewhitebull says...
6:35pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Those people struggling to make ends meet must find the earnings of our councillors hard to accept. Incredibly, our council are not amongst the highest paid in the UK (yes - it's difficult to imagine, I know!). The 22 councils of Wales paid their councillors a total of £23 million last year!! The top payers were Conwy, Carmarthenshire & Rhondda Cyon Taff at over £1.3 million each. Perhaps some of councillors will think of emigrating!!

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Herefordian says...
6:39pm Wed 19 Sep 12

I feel bloody sick that's all I can say

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billyb83 says...
6:39pm Wed 19 Sep 12

£38,000 pension contribution hes worth every penny in my eyes, look at what hes done closed the cattle market and pushed out a number of local businesses, Made widemarsh street into a pedestrian friendly area and made it safe to walk on, Spending 1.5 million on the lifts and stairwell in multi storey, New welcome to Hereford signs. You have all the backing of Hereford!!!!! How about you go back to the big city where your from and leave this city to the people who have lived here all the lives and know what we need!!!!!

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probono says...
6:46pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Saw Local Councillor having pub meal, and then asked for receipt for his expenses. Always worth asking to see their expense cl;aim forms at audit, some fascinating journeys and creative meeting attending.

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bobby47 says...
7:00pm Wed 19 Sep 12

You Parasites are reading our Postings so i'll tell you now that somewhere, way back in time, you probably had a sense of pride and honour when you were elected into Office. In most cases that was a long time ago and you no longer have any sense of right or wrong and any moral standing.
To the younger of you Bottom Feeders I tell you this. There will come a time when you will all be held to account for taking advantage of your position and exploiting your ability to take our money so, think little, reflect upon what you are doing and change your course. Become a whistleblower and report any unease you may have in regard to the behaviour of some of your fellow colleagues. Do this and there is some redemption for you. Dont do it and I promise you that this bubble you all live in will collapse and many of you will be held to account, perhaps even prosecuted for the misuse of public funds.
This is a tale of disgrace by a bunch of self serving, loathsome, money grabbing leeches who are the ruin of my City.
I despise you all. You have all lost your way and this has all become a money making excersise to you.
Surely there is one of you reading our Postings that feels uneasy about this money making game you are being pushed into playing.
Please. Step forward. Report your concerns to the authorities.

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Colin J Marschall says...
7:13pm Wed 19 Sep 12

So here we have it, Councillors slicing chunks of steak from the bull, feeding their own fatted calf ready for the glorious day they retire to their final salary pensions (probably on a beech somewhere far from Herefordshire) and in order to feed these swine they put up ideas to cut benefits from those who have the most need, as in the council tax swindle they are trying to bring in, which as we all know has already been decided upon and will happen regardless of what any public consultation says. This lot (all of them, Con, Lab and IOC) need tar and feathering then run out of the county. I just wish there could be a local party that the people could trust to do what is best for the whole of Herefordshire and not just the elite "funny hand shake" group this lot belong to.
Shame on them and shame on any person who stands by and watches them pig-out at the public purses expense. Mind you it would be pointless to write anything against them to the HT as they are basically in their pockets (just read Jim Miller's blogs) to see.

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Graham Powell says...
9:24pm Wed 19 Sep 12

I thought I'd share the reality -

In the past financial year I received £6484.58 as a basic allowance and an additional £4819.40 as a Cabinet Support Member.
After taxation and other deductions (that did not include a pension) I received a total of £11303.98.
I worked an average of 50 hours a week - and drove almost 14,000 miles.
I claimed no expenses for my travel, subsistence or IT costs.
I'm not the only councillor who has this profile - might I respectfully suggest that correspondents check the facts before making remarks that many might find offensive.

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Gillian1961 says...
9:42pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Graham Powell when you are at your next full council meeting why don't you suggest to your fellow councillors that they follow in your foot steps, because the general public are not happy with what printed in the H-times

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bobby47 says...
10:22pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Mr Powell, Thank you so much for being the first Councillor who has the backbone to come on here and state your case. You've kindly accounted for just over eleven thousand quid and thats helpful. Now all we've got to do is account for the outstanding six hundred and seventy thousand pounds that has slipped from our hands into the hands of elected Officers.
You might think that 'we' are a shambolic gathering of cynics who enjoy attacking our elected leaders. We are not. Far from it. We love our City and we are in despair at events and past decisions that have brought our home Hereford to its knees.
We are in a mess Mr Powell and from our perspective our Council lurches from one disaster to another spending money on pointless gimmicks and appearing to forget that we the people put you all into Office because we trusted you all to do what was right for our community.
Once again, thank you for your
Posting.
My warmest regards to you.

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probono says...
10:36pm Wed 19 Sep 12

When listing the Parties, Colin, you missed out the Lib Dums - I agree Tel Boy has few members left now, but it was his administration that started all this expenses + travelling + meals and so on. Well done Cllr Powell for being brave and not taking travelling expenses. It is an honour to be elected by your fellow men and women to be a County Councillor and make decisions that affect us now, and generations of herefordians to come. it does seem you are one of the few who appears to recognise that.

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Colin J Marschall says...
12:34am Thu 20 Sep 12

Graham Powell wrote:
I thought I'd share the reality -

In the past financial year I received £6484.58 as a basic allowance and an additional £4819.40 as a Cabinet Support Member.
After taxation and other deductions (that did not include a pension) I received a total of £11303.98.
I worked an average of 50 hours a week - and drove almost 14,000 miles.
I claimed no expenses for my travel, subsistence or IT costs.
I'm not the only councillor who has this profile - might I respectfully suggest that correspondents check the facts before making remarks that many might find offensive.
The shame is Mr. Powell you are one of the few, and I apologize for generalizing in this.
I applaud you and the other councillors who have the decency to only claim what is due (or less than what is due) .. however, if what you say is correct and there are other councillors like you then its just makes reading those figures even worse as that means there are a few who fleece others more often than most..
I hope you can see the frustration things like this cause, we have the council bleeding out on how they have to find £1.3 million to fill the council tax benefit hole and how they want to (again) hit those most in need and yet they are happy to dip their hands into the public purse at almost every opportunity.
We read the papers and see the council deciding to spend money of follies and in the next breath they are taking away youth funding, palming off non profit making services to local councils and supporting the closure of ambulance and police stations, you and some other councillors may be fighting against this but what has that changed in the last 10 years?

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Colin J Marschall says...
12:36am Thu 20 Sep 12

probono wrote:
When listing the Parties, Colin, you missed out the Lib Dums - I agree Tel Boy has few members left now, but it was his administration that started all this expenses + travelling + meals and so on. Well done Cllr Powell for being brave and not taking travelling expenses. It is an honour to be elected by your fellow men and women to be a County Councillor and make decisions that affect us now, and generations of herefordians to come. it does seem you are one of the few who appears to recognise that.
LOL

Lib-dumbs are finished as a political party.

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Colin J Marschall says...
12:39am Thu 20 Sep 12

@bobby47

I would love to contact you outside of these pages .. do you have a FB profile?

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swampy says...
7:55am Thu 20 Sep 12

Well done for highlighting this Hereford Times, certain councillors were elected in the last election to the new party of Hereford on the basis that this would all be stopped and in fact its actually increased.
For those of us who work hard to keep going its a kick in the face, I hope they will remember when the next elections come around.
Also Cllr. Powell is very active in his ward, more than can be said for the rest of them. What a shower.

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Lukio says...
8:10am Thu 20 Sep 12

We shouldn't really be surprised at this. For the most, there are none more self-serving than local government. Whilst a lot of people in this county are struggling to make ends meet, worried about how they're going to get to the end of the month without getting in debt it hurts to see the massive renumerations those who are supposed to be acting in ore interests are receiving. After the expenses scandal at national government level you'd think that they'd look long and hard about how they're spending public money. It's not like they've done a great deal either. Look at the state of the OLM for example. Plus all these secret meetings. Are they really acting in our best interests? As is the way of the world (and the UK presently), the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

A lot of councils have taken pay cuts or freezes but it seems the bandwagon here keeps on rolling. If they have an ounce of dignity, humility or sensibility they should look to review their costs.

And massive respect to Cllr. Powell for his honesty and we should take note not to tar all with the same brush. If only all others were open and transparent as this...

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littlewhitebull says...
9:59am Thu 20 Sep 12

If you examine the council's website - under 'Transparency' - you can see all payments the council has made to any company for services, products, etc. Why was over £12,000 paid in 2011-12 to a private water company for bottled water?
The council already has piped water from Welsh Water, just like the vast majority of citizens. I find that a glass filled from my cold water tap is just as refreshing and does not add to my overall costs from Welsh Water. Buying bottled water seems a luxury - try saving money in this department, please?

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Lukio says...
10:41am Thu 20 Sep 12

£12000 for bottled water is taking the p**s. That's more than some peoples wages around here. And before the supporters jump to their defence, take note of what littlewhitebull has said - drink Welsh Water's finest like the rest of us!

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TwoWheelsGood says...
12:30pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Lukio - come on, give the Council some credit, they were taken to task for spending £72k on bottled water a couple of years ago and they put a dedicated team onto reducing that figure, which has reaped huge rewards - just £12k now - bargain!

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bobby47 says...
12:44pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Parasitic, bottom feeding, leeches, maggots and fleas are just some of the words I have used to describe the activities of our leadership.
I've slept on the words of Mr Graham Powell and I am truly angry with myself for hurting this mans feelings. He clearly is a public servant with integrity and I hope he's right when he says there are others like him who do not rip us off. I am sorry Mr Powell.
That said, we are where we are and we have to account for nearly six hundred and seventy thousand pounds that has been taken from public funds.
Why is it that Mr Graham Powell has found a way not to take our money?
How many are there that have the same view and standards of Mr Powell? If you are one of these I want you to act and come on this site and make your statement. I promise you it would be welcomed.
To those of you, our leaders who have been fattening up your salary with our money, I tell you now that your bubble is rapidly deflating and you'll soon be exposed and my gut feelings is it'll be one of your own who feels guilty about what has happened and he or she will become a whistleblower.

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Themightyboosh says...
2:07pm Thu 20 Sep 12

i fear it is the top few percent who are the problem here.
the phrase.
"who watches the watchmen"
springs to mind.
when they and their buddies are in control of the money.

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Lukio says...
3:23pm Thu 20 Sep 12

@TwoWheels - My bad! I didn't realise that they'd reduced the figure so dramatically...I am now happy that after putting a dedicated team on the case with numerous consultations no doubt that £12k is a justifiable figure.

We must be grateful that our council takes this so seriously. Lord knows what barmy decisions they may have made if they were dehydrated ;)

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Lukio says...
3:24pm Thu 20 Sep 12

@TwoWheels - My bad! I didn't realise that they'd reduced the figure so dramatically...I am now happy that after putting a dedicated team on the case with numerous consultations no doubt that £12k is a justifiable figure.

We must be grateful that our council takes this so seriously. Lord knows what barmy decisions they may have made if they were dehydrated ;)

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Lukio says...
3:24pm Thu 20 Sep 12

@TwoWheels - My bad! I didn't realise that they'd reduced the figure so dramatically...I am now happy that after putting a dedicated team on the case with numerous consultations no doubt that £12k is a justifiable figure.

We must be grateful that our council takes this so seriously. Lord knows what barmy decisions they may have made if they were dehydrated ;)

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Graham Powell says...
7:17pm Thu 20 Sep 12

There are 58 councillors - if we all earned £12,000 the total would come to £696,000...perhaps the whole suggestion that everyone is drawing large sums of money needs a rethink?

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fair123 says...
7:23pm Thu 20 Sep 12

We are the tax payers here. We have a right to complain what we think is unjust. I for one am writing to my MP and Downing Street. I know many people who work long hours and after paying their bills etc. have very little left at the end of the week and one of their biggest bill is the council tax. Yet the council receives all this money and spends it on senseless things. They don't care as long as they get their fair share of it. They all make me sick. The same as the Derek Smith, Chief Executive for Hereford NHS Trust - very large salary yet has been useless in all his previous jobs with the same title!

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Colin J Marschall says...
8:04pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Graham Powell wrote:
There are 58 councillors - if we all earned £12,000 the total would come to £696,000...perhaps the whole suggestion that everyone is drawing large sums of money needs a rethink?
True Mr Powell, but these figures are not about earnings they are about expenses which as I understand it are paid on top of what ever "wage" is earned.
Perhaps we should start a campaign for all Councillors expenses to be published with the item listed that was claimed for .. I reckon that would make very interesting reading.

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bobby47 says...
8:37pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Colin J M, Hello mate. Kiddo I'm not on Face Book.
Wouldn't it be interesting if we Posters all got together, got ourselves organised and we all agreed on one of our number standing in a future election. Whatever the political leanings of our choice, we all get behind him or her and that candidate promises never to claim a penny whilst in Office.
I personally wouldn't touch it with a bargepole but I'd bust a gut to help our chosen Candidate.
Just imagine! Together we could break this cycle of greed.
My warmest regards.

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raylb50 says...
8:25am Fri 21 Sep 12

Our North Herefordshire county councillor Peter Jones claims an average £342.00 per WEEK, excluding his Hfd & Worc Fire Authority allowances. When I revealed this in another local paper last year there was not one protest from my fellow Leominster residents. There are food stations in Leominster but my fellow residents find it quite acceptable cllr Jones claims what he does. Shame on them & him.

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bobby47 says...
10:48am Fri 21 Sep 12

raylb50, I promise you that people do object to these practices but they no longer have the will to raise their voice, say what they think, for fear that they might be branded a troublemaker.
We used to be a Nation of protestors but because of the past social engineering we've all been subjected to, people no longer feel they have a voice and a say in how our money is spent and where our leaders are taking us.
Times will change and I am hopeful that the kids, the ones who's future my generation have ruined, will sometime soon, get involved in local politics and hopefully smash up this culture of greed that allows our Council to throw our money away without any regard to what we the people think.
My warmest regards to you.

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Colin J Marschall says...
8:04pm Fri 21 Sep 12

bobby47 wrote:
Colin J M, Hello mate. Kiddo I'm not on Face Book.
Wouldn't it be interesting if we Posters all got together, got ourselves organised and we all agreed on one of our number standing in a future election. Whatever the political leanings of our choice, we all get behind him or her and that candidate promises never to claim a penny whilst in Office.
I personally wouldn't touch it with a bargepole but I'd bust a gut to help our chosen Candidate.
Just imagine! Together we could break this cycle of greed.
My warmest regards.
Ok mate no problem, just would have been interesting to talk outside of these comments.
I agree with you, we all should get together and form a local party hell bent on taking on the regular brigade where ever they are.

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Colin J Marschall says...
8:06pm Fri 21 Sep 12

raylb50 wrote:
Our North Herefordshire county councillor Peter Jones claims an average £342.00 per WEEK, excluding his Hfd & Worc Fire Authority allowances. When I revealed this in another local paper last year there was not one protest from my fellow Leominster residents. There are food stations in Leominster but my fellow residents find it quite acceptable cllr Jones claims what he does. Shame on them & him.
You only have to look what happened to that guy who stood for election on the expenses issue to realise that most of the "high flyers" are probably members of the same lodge no matter what colour their politics are.

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probono says...
10:20pm Fri 21 Sep 12

Someone stood against Cllr Bob the Builder for his Ward and said no expenses or allowances would be taken, but still lost. Seems the general public are not aware of the large chunk of our Council Tax that goes on Councillors expenses. And what does the Mayor and all his men and the City Council cost us as well. Double whammy for us who live in the City.

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bobby47 says...
11:15am Sun 23 Sep 12

As this debate nears its end I do wish to address Lukio's comment on some other related story regarding my revelation that I dress in my Granny's clothes.
We live in a society where we enjoy freedom of speech and the subject of me dressing in dear Granny's clothes is something that must be brought out into the light.
Firstly, my friend Lukio questioned whether or not I did this for some personal gratification and if so, it would be a help in becoming a member of a political party.
This is the truth.... Me and Granny were eeling off the Victoria Bridge when a huge deluge of water suddenly surged toward us. I managed to grab hold of Grannys club which she used to smash the eels head in. But alas, Granny slipped and began her rapid descent into the angry waters. Our conversation was brief. Much to brief for my liking. I screamed, 'Granny, where are you going?' Her tone was a mix of calmness and raging terror. ' Into the Wye I fear'.
As she entered the water, she took a last long drag on her hand rolled cigarette and screamed, 'You can have me clothes' and it was at this moment she gurgled some curse on our local Council and then disappeared into the surging waters.
Thats why I wear my Grannys clothes ! and if anyone suggests otherwise they are embellishers and theres nothing I hate more than an embellisher who embellishes an embelishment. Now I've said it.
My warmest regards to Lukio.

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Wye valley paddler says...
10:38pm Sun 23 Sep 12

Colin J Marschall wrote:
Graham Powell wrote:
There are 58 councillors - if we all earned £12,000 the total would come to £696,000...perhaps the whole suggestion that everyone is drawing large sums of money needs a rethink?
True Mr Powell, but these figures are not about earnings they are about expenses which as I understand it are paid on top of what ever "wage" is earned.
Perhaps we should start a campaign for all Councillors expenses to be published with the item listed that was claimed for .. I reckon that would make very interesting reading.
The first couple of paragraphs have a fairly detailed breakdown of the expenses - perhaps you missed it on your way to the comments section.

Basic and special allowances (what you might call 'earnings') for being a councillor came to about £615,000 of the total 676,000. The remaining 62,914 was paid 'on top of' this, adding up to a little over £1000 per councillor on average for travel and meals when on council business. The article also shows that overall expenses (that's 'earnings' plus 'expenses') rose by about £5000 year on year, that's less than £100 per councillor. Hardly the greatest scandal ever.

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Lukio says...
7:35am Mon 24 Sep 12

@bobby - thanks for clearing this up. I'm dreadfully sorry that your granny was swallowed by the merciless waters of the Wye whilst attempting to catch those slippery little suckers. Alas her death I hope would have been swift.

Sadly, our City's death will be a slow drowning under a tide of bad decisions, secret meetings, questionable expenses and wasted public money. I fear it's too late to throw in a life-buoy and make any rescue attempt ;)

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bobby47 says...
11:54am Mon 24 Sep 12

Thank you Lukio. Had she not said, 'The clothes are yours I never would have worn them.'
Finally, to anyone else out there keen to wear their Grannys clothes, let me say this. By all means where your Grannys clothes but its very important, particularly if she's still alive, to have her permission.

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richybeaver says...
9:03am Tue 25 Sep 12

The truth of the matter is that the people who are actually doing the real work for Local Authorities, emptying bins or burying the dead, are not on great wages. They never have been and never will be.

Have you ever heard a Councillor demanding wage rises for their hard working constituents? No, all they whinge about are trendy issues that please the nodding donkeys.

Jumping on bandwagons are keeping your head below the parapet are the essential requirements of the modern politician. Snout in trough is the order of the day. Point fingers, get your picture in the press. Do not rock the boat. End of.

Such uselessness allows us the moral high ground to mock them unmercifully - but they still get more than their fair share of the spoils, always have and always will.

Discuss.....

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littlewhitebull says...
12:41pm Tue 25 Sep 12

If you wish yo be thoroughly depressed about councillors expenses/allowances, just take a random look at different authorities websites. I have just looked at Birmingham Council. 14 councillors received £20,000+; 7 received £30,000; 2 received £32,000; 2 received £37,000; 8 received £47,000; and one received £74,000.
Just think of how much money is being spent throughout the UK. Perhaps, democracy is worth it?!

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littlewhitebull says...
12:05pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Of the 434 councils in the UK - 32 gave their councillors an increase in basic allowances . Boston Borough Council councillors had an increase of 28%.
34 councils decreased basic allowances - with Tewkesbury making a 19% saving.
The highest basic allowance for a county council was £12,906 - Nottinghamshire. The lowest was Northamptonshire at £7086.
Other types of authorities are paying more, and some types less than HCC's basic of £7244.

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