Councillors claimed £70,000 expenses in one year

Buckinghamshire County Council members claimed £64,334.29 in mileage and £5,646.24 in “subsistence and other”, a total of £69,981.14.

As the Bucks Free Press publishes the top ten spenders (below) councillors on all sides backed the figures and urged voters not to liken their expenses to those of MPs.

All 57 seats on the authority are up for election on Thursday. Seven did not claim any expenses. See the link at the bottom of this story for full details.

The figures were called “shocking” by the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group, which praised some members for keeping claims down.

And there were further calls for the council to be merged with district councils as some sit on both – giving them two pay packets.

Alls got a basic allowance of £10,482 with leaders, cabinet members and committee chairmen getting extra “special responsibility” allowances.

This gave leader David Shakespeare an extra £38,835 last year, making his total pay £49,317. He also claimed the most expenses, £4,875.83, of which £553.23 was subsistence.

Cllr Shakespeare – who also sits on Wycombe District Council – said travel claims were for mileage to County Hall in Aylesbury and train fares to London.

Cllr Shakespeare said: “It would be a tragedy is voters saw the election as a referendum on MPs’ allowances. It would miss the whole point.”

He works another job “two or three mornings a week” at the Local Government Association in London – but said he only claimed for trains to the LGA when it involves council business.

This was about 40 per cent of journeys, he said.

Members get a taxable £4 for breakfast and lunch and £8 for evening meals each day if they are outside the “usual place of residence”.

Deputy leader Bill Chapple, who had the highest subsistence claim of £767.61, said wards are the “usual place of residence” – meaning he buys lunch when he is at County Hall, usually every day.

He said: “I think lunch is acceptable because I am on county business. It doesn’t cover the cost but it helps towards it.”

Cllr Chapple added: “Nobody in their right mind would go into the county council to make money.”

“More people than ever” had slammed the door in his face while canvassing over the MP’s expenses furore, he said.

Yet Tory councillor Lesley Clarke, who claimed no expenses, said: “Everybody has to buy their own lunch, there is no reason for me to be same.”

Cllr Clarke is also leader of Wycombe District Council, where she claimed £1,130.17 in 2007/08. “I have mileage elsewhere, I don’t feel it is right to claim it again,” she said.

But council Liberal Democrat leader Mary Baldwin said her group, the only opposition, wanted a unified council, for district and county, which would stop two pay packets.

A total of 13 south Bucks BCC members also sit on district councils. This means Cllr Clarke, for example, gets an estimated £30,000.

Cllr Baldwin said: “If we were unitary it wouldn’t be an issue. It would save the taxpayer a lot of money.”

But she said of allowances: “If you want to attract good people you do have to pay an allowance of some sort.”

Bowerdean, Micklefield & Totteridge Lib Dem Julia Wassell said mileage rates were too high. For 2009/10 these are as high as 57p a mile for over 1401cc cars.

She said: “We have recycled a large amount of our basic allowance into our party and community projects.”

TaxPayers’ Alliance spokesman Marc Wallace said: “It’s shocking that some councillors are raking in quite so much money.

“Given that each of them automatically receives thousands of pounds to help them do the job, it is highly questionable whether some of these top-end claims can be justified.

“It is good to see that there are some councillors who resist the temptation to bill large amounts to the taxpayer, but some of their colleagues are not so community-spirited.”

Councillors can claim quarterly telephone rental costs and up to £25 a quarter for "official calls".

They also get a computer and printer, which must be returned to the council when leaving office. Members are given a key which gets them free coffee from County Hall vending machines, usually 20p.

Wycombe District Council is yet to release allowances and expenses for 2008/09 (see link, below).

Mileage: (all Conservative unless otherwise stated)

1 - David Shakepeare - Ryemead, Tylers Green and Loudwater - £4,322.60.

2 - Lin Hazell - Burnham Beeches - £3,704.66.

3 - Martin Tett - The Chalfonts and Seer Green - £3,261.04.

4 - Bruce Allen - Chalfont St Peter - £3,149.10.

5 - Valerie Letheren - Terriers and Amersham Hill - £3,147.37.

6 - Frank Downes - Stokenchurch, Radnage and West Wycombe - £3,046.60.

7 - Mike Appleyard - Thames - £3,042.06.

8 - Pauline Wilkinson - Amersham - £2,744.80.

9 - Margaret Dewar - Beaconsfield - £2,319.74.

10 - Alan Oxley - Iver - £2,245.87 - Lib Dem.

Subsistence and Other: (all Conservative unless otherwise stated)

1 - Bill Chapple - Aston Clinton - £767.61.

2 - Frank Downes - Stokenchurch, Radnage and West Wycombe - £643.48.

3 - David Shakespeare - Ryemead, Tylers Green and Loudwater - £553.23.

4 - David Watson - Thames - £442.12.

5 - Bruce Allen - Chalfont St Peter - £294.87.

6 - David Rowlands - Winslow - £282.66.

7 - David Carroll - Hazlemere - £280.48.

8 - Valerie Letheren - Terriers and Amersham - "277.36.

9 - Pauline Wilkinson - Amersham - £259.08.

10 - Dennis Green - The Risboroughs - £255.48.

All expenses: (all Conservative unless otherwise stated)

1 - David Shakespeare - Ryemead, Tylers Green and Loudwater - £4875.83.

2 - Lin Hazell - Burnham Beeches - £3704.66.

3 - Frank Downes - Stokenchurch, Radnage and West Wycombe - £3690.08.

4 - Martin Tett - The Chalfonts and Seer Green - £3490.94.

5 - Bruce Allen - Chalfont St Peter - £3443.97.

6 - Valerie Letheren - Terriers and Amersham Hill - £3424.73.

7 - Mike Appleyard - Thames - £3042.06.

8 - Pauline Wilkinson - Amersham - £3003.88.

9 - Margaret Dewar - Beaconsfield - £2539.74.

10 - Alan Oxley, Lib Dem - Iver - £2437.48.