Councillors' expenses

[BigMouth]

Legislation:

 

Nothing to do with the SIC or the limitations of VC, The local government act dictates that Councillors have to be physically present at a meeting in order to vote.

 

I remember Tavish pursuing this through the Exec a few years back, not sure what happened with that.

 

Very interesting - although it seems a bit backward these days

[NewMagnie]

You're not wrong.

[Styles]

Why was Gordon Mitchels cost for ferries so much higher than everyone else? Unless he heads to Fair Isle every day!

[NewMagnie]

Nah, he only goes twice a year - but he takes the car.

[Muppet]

You've got to admire leonard Groat, Geoff Feather and Barbara Cheyne. Spectacularly low claims. If they can do it why can't the rest?

[NewMagnie]

I suppose you've got to ask why there claims are so low, they are quite handy for the toon hall I suppose. No idea what their performance is like but it might be the case that there is a correlation between how often they turn up for meetings and how much they claim.

 

Or maybe they just don't need the money.

 

Or maybe they're just so damn public spirited they've instructed financial services to distribute it to needy orphans instead.

[shetlander]

The title of this article is a bit misleading - whether you agree that they work for it or not almost 3/4 of the total £535,103 can be accounted for in basic allowances and convenor/vice convenor spokesperson payments (i.e. their equivalent of a salary) before fares, jaunts away and other claims are totted up. The low amounts 'claimed' by Councillors Cheyne, Feather and Groat can probably be attributed to the fact that they are the only three councillors who don't hold convenor or vice convenor positions.

 

How Councillor Mitchell managed to notch up nearly £4000 in 'inter island ferry etc allowances' is a mystery to me though. According to the SIC website, a return trip to Fair Isle (even with a car) costs £25 meaning he would have had to make 160 return trips there in the year when (going by the summer timetable - presumably it runs less in the winter?) the boat only goes there 156 times a year..... If he chose to take the dearer option of flying (£56 return according to the SIC website) he would have had to be in Fair Isle 71 times in the year for his £4000.

 

I hope the Fair Isle electorate feel like they are getting their moneys worth......

[JustMe]

I have got some sort of flashback memory about this happening before and it was revealed that expenses for ferry travel to the mainland were shown under inter island ferries. In fact I guess the Northboat runs from Shetland (an island) to Mainland UK (another island) so in a way that is inter island.

[shetlander]

I have got some sort of flashback memory about this happening before and it was revealed that expenses for ferry travel to the mainland were shown under inter island ferries. In fact I guess the Northboat runs from Shetland (an island) to Mainland UK (another island) so in a way that is inter island.

 

Possibly although strangely none of the other non-island representing councillors (most of whom have presumably been sooth on Council business at some point in the past year) have made any claims under this category. Frank Robertson (whose constituency includes Foula) hasn't claimed anything at all for ferry fares but I would hope has been there at least once over the last 12 months.

 

Maybe it just comes down to individual interpretation as to what category claims are made. A request to the Council under the Freedom of Information Act would shed some light on it.

[JustMe]

Shetlander wrote

 

Possibly although strangely none of the other non-island representing councillors (most of whom have presumably been sooth on Council business at some point in the past year) have made any claims under this category.

 

I suspect that would be because most councillors take the plane. Could also explain how Frank Robertson never claimed ferry fares to Foula. Then again phone calls and video conferencing could well be used to keep in contact with Foula folk.

[NewMagnie]

...beginning to think we all need to get out more.

 

Anyone fancy a pint?

[Sam]

nice to see the councelier in the paper talling us that he was not on a jont as stated in the paper, bet he wasnot going to tell us the next jont is very soon and to a nice wee island with a lot more sun than yell.

[Styles]

I saw the News of the World on sunday on page 6 there was a half page spread saying if you wanted to visit exotic locations become a Shetland Islands Councillor! Very funny bit showing how absurd a lot of their trips were and how much they have wasted tax payers cash. Even had a map of the world showing where they went and pictures of the worst councillors.

Best quote was Drew Ratter about that waste of time in India.

[Tomblands]

I actually liked their quote from "Highlands and Islands Council" about the trip.

 

1. That Council doesn't actually exist.

 

2. Why the hell would they speak to Highland Council (assuming thats who they mean) about Shetland Councillor's trips?

[nobbystiles]

The News of the World article was superb. Nothing exclusive, however, as the Shetland Tims ahd the same thing a couple of weeks ago. A lot of these trips have always gone on, such as the periperal maritime regions. But I think the one that got folks dander up was Drew Ratter's three-week jaunt to India. Absolute nonsense. And he also went to Spain and Denmark to look at windmills. And I hear he's aff to Belguim next week.