More than half a million pounds was given to Isle of Wight councillors, collectively, for the role they play in the authority.
Annual figures have been revealed from the local authority, detailing how much it handed elected representatives in allowances in the last year.
£512,726.87 paid to 39 councillors
Overall, the council paid out £512,726.87 to 39 councillors between March 2022 and April 2023.
Councillors received a basic allowance of £8,832, but some members receive a special responsibility allowance for other positions they hold on the authority, such as leader, cabinet member, group leader or chair and vice-chair of a committee.
Leader’s allowances
Isle of Wight council leader, Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox, received the most — the basic allowance, a £17,664 special allowance and £1,533.49 in travel and subsistence allowances — for a total of £28,029.49.
Councillor Ian Stephens, the deputy leader, received the second most — £21,557.35 — with a special allowance of £11,040 on top of his basic one and claiming £1,685.35 in travel and subsistence allowances.
Travel allowance
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, cabinet member for economy, regeneration, culture and leisure claimed the most travel and subsistence allowances, of £1,783.06 — and along with her basic and special allowance received £19,447.06
All councillors receive an on-Island travel allowance which covers them for journeys taken to and from the council headquarters.
It is calculated for each member using a formula based on the distance from their home to County Hall in Newport and also takes into account the position the councillor holds.
For example, councillors in Newport get paid less than those in Freshwater.
Only receiving basic allowance
Only one councillor, Councillor Clare Mosdell, opted out of receiving the on-Island travel allowance, and only received the basic councillor allowance.
Members are also allowed to claim expenses for mainland travel and subsistence they incur while on council business.
The authority says for some councillors this will be higher than other members as they represent the Isle of Wight council on national boards.
Dependent carer allowances
No claims were made for any dependent carer allowances — which can be given to a councillor who has a dependent child under the age of 14 living with them or they care for a dependent elderly or disabled person.
This allowance is used by authorities to encourage more into public office so there is cover for care when they are doing council business.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Tax Rebate under CC BY 2.0
