Expenses claimed by all 67 elected members of Northumberland County Council
and live on Freeview channel 276
But how much do elected members actually get for all their work serving the people who live in their ward? The answer is probably a lot less than you might think.
In Northumberland, councillors are paid a so-called basic allowance, which increases annually based on the annual pay awards for local Government staff. In 2022/23 – the most up-to-date figures provided on the council’s website, this so-called salary spinal was £16,476.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdA number of councillors are also paid what is known as a “special responsibility allowance” which is paid to members who serve in the cabinet or as chairman of committees, in recognition of the extra work they do in these roles. This ranges from £27,000 for the leader of the council to £1,350 for vice-chairman of council committees.
On top of this members can also claim expenses for various costs incurred during their work as councillors. These are grouped into three categories – business fares, mileage, and subsistence.
According to the council’s figures, in 2022/23 34 of the council’s 67 members did not claim any expenses at all. The remaining 33 claimed £35,561.21 between them.
Unsurprisingly given the geographical size of Northumberland, the vast majority of this – £34,196 – was claimed as reimbursement for business miles, with most of that travelled by councillors representing the county’s more rural wards. £1,178.60 was claimed for business fares and just £187.10 was claimed for subsistence.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWe’ve rounded up all the expenses claims by every councillor in the county below:
Name | Ward | Party | Business fares (£) | Mileage (£) | Subsistence (£) | Total (£) |
Caroline Ball | Ashington Central | Labour | 0 | £0 | 0 | 0 |
David Bawn | Morpeth North | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
John Beynon | Morpeth Stobhill | Conservative | 0 | 24.88 | 0 | 24.88 |
Les Bowman | Holywell | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Steven Bridget | Rothbury | Independent Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Daniel Carr | South Blyth | Conservative | 0 | 127.21 | 0 | 127.21 |
Eileen Cartie | Wensleydale | Labour | 0 | 206.93 | 0 | 206.93 |
Gordon Castle | Alnwick | Conservative | 0 | 677.82 | 0 | 677.82 |
Trevor Cessford | Hexham Central with Acomb | Conservative | 0 | 1996.1 | 0 | 1996.1 |
Eve Chicken | Seghill with Seaton Delaval | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Terry Clark | Amble | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Anne Dale | Stocksfield and Broomhaugh | Independent Group | 0 | 1484.31 | 25.37 | 1509.68 |
Wayne Daley | Cramlington North | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lyle Darwin | Ponteland East with Stannington | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scott Dickinson | Druridge Bay | Labour | 0 | 231.4 | 0 | 231.4 |
Richard Dodd | Ponteland North | Conservative | 0 | 405.91 | 0 | 405.91 |
Christine Dunbar | Cramlington Eastfield | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Elizabeth Dunn | Lynemouth | Labour | 0 | 331.42 | 0 | 331.42 |
Paul Ezhilchelvan | Cramlington South East | Conservative | 0 | 298.57 | 0 | 298.57 |
Suzanne Fairless-Aitken | Hexham East | Liberal Democrats | 0 | 563.04 | 0 | 563.04 |
David Ferguson | Hartley | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Barry Flux | Cramlington West | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Julie Foster | Stakeford | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Brian Gallacher | Haydon | Labour | 0 | 452.91 | 115.49 | 568.4 |
Lynne Grimsahw | Bothal | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Colin Hardy | Norham and Islandshires | Conservative | 40.5 | 3971.15 | 6.84 | 4018.49 |
Georgina Hill | Berwick East | Independent Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Colin Horncastle | South Tynedale | Conservative | 0 | 2755.21 | 0 | 2755.21 |
Ciff Humphrey | Newsham | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Isabel Hunter | Berwick West with Ord | Liberal Democrats | 0 | 1455.69 | 3.5 | 1459.19 |
Ian Hutchinson | Haltwhistle | Conservative | 0 | 1555.15 | 0 | 1555.15 |
Peter Jackson | Ponteland South with Heddon | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Veronica Jones | Ponteland West | Conservative | 0 | 353.91 | 0 | 353.91 |
Derek Kennedy | Hexham West | Independent Group | 0 | 253.08 | 0 | 253.08 |
James Lang | Seaton with Newbiggin West | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scott Lee | Cramlington Eastfield | Independent Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mark Mather | Wooler | Conservative | 0 | 506.87 | 0 | 506.87 |
Nick Morphet | Humshaugh | Green | 158.8 | 1011.52 | 29.4 | 1199.72 |
Mary Murphy | Choppington | Independent Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kath Nisbet | Croft | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nick Oliver | Corbridge | Conservative | 0 | 629.42 | 0 | 629.42 |
Ken Parry | Hirst | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wendy Pattison | Longhoughton | Conservative | 0 | 2208.14 | 0 | 2208.14 |
Wojciech Ploszaj | Kitty Brewster | Conservative | 0 | 297.16 | 0 | 297.16 |
Mark Purvis | College | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Reid | Plessy | Liberal Democrats | 0 | 174.32 | 0 | 174.32 |
Guy Renner Thompson | Bamburgh | Conservative | 0 | 1979.99 | 0 | 1979.99 |
Margaret Richardson | Cowpen | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
John Riddle | Bellingham | Conservative | 0 | 3318.04 | 0 | 3318.04 |
Malcolm Robinson | Bedlington West | Non-aligned | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Glen Sanderson | Longhorsley | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Angie Scott | Prudhoe North | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Catherine Seymour | Berwick North | Conservative | 979.3 | 0 | 0 | 979.3 |
Alan Sharp | Haydon with Hadrian | Liberal Democrats | 0 | 1808.7 | 0 | 1808.7 |
Liz Simpson | Newbiggin Central and East | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gordon Stewart | Prudhoe South | Conservative | 0 | 1590.89 | 6.5 | 1597.39 |
Martin Swinbank | Alnwick | Green | 0 | 904.5 | 0 | 904.5 |
Mark Swinburn | Cramlington Village | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Christine Taylor | Bedlington Central | Independent Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trevor Thorne | Shilbottle | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
David Towns | Pegswood | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Holly Waddell | Bywell | Independent Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Alex Wallace | Sleekburb | Labour | 0 | 346.99 | 0 | 346.99 |
Anna Watson | Isabella | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Watson | Amble west with Warkworth | Conservative | 0 | 2274.33 | 2274.33 | |
Richard Wearmouth | Morpeth Kirkhill | Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rebecca Wilczek | Bedlington East | Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | N/A | N/A | £1178.60 | £34,196 | £187.1 | £35561.26 |