Members' Allowances Paid 2003/2004
Councillors 'allowances' 2003/04. Once elected, a councillor in Oldham has to attend the full council meetings at least once every six months. That means that a councillor can, in theory, attend one meeting a year (sign in, sign out) and he / she will receive the fill renumeration. There is no need to proove any kind of need, no receipts are ever seen, there is no neccesity to prove that you are 'entitled' to this money, it is just given without question. This renumeration is intended to cover costs incurred as a councillor. I.E. travel, parking fees (free at any council event for councillors), printing costs (supplied free to councillors at council offices), telephone costs (free to councillors at any council offices) and reimbursement for time spent on councillor related duties. Given that there is no proof of spending required and the minimum attendance is 1 meeting p.a. as a councillor one can turn up to one meeting, sign in, sign out and thats your responsibilities fulfilled. Signing in might take 5 mins so that would work out at £92,639.52 per hour. Bill Gates would be proud.
To the best of my knowledge no one has actually played the system to this extent yet but it is worth remembering that there are no checks and balances on councillors allowances. Indeed who sets the figures for these allowances? Well, Oldham looks at what other councillors in neighbouring towns receive and says "well we are allowed a similar amount so it must be fair.". Guess what all the neighbouring councils do to set their rate? Yep. They look at the neighbouring councils.............
A final point worth noting, even though the requirement is to attend at least one meeting per six months, if circumstances don't allow you to attend then the rule isn't enforced! And even if the circumstances do not preclude you from attending, the rules are not enforced either, This happened for at least one councillor in 2004. So in fact, if you are elected, you don't actually have to do a thing to 'qualify' for the allowance. Nice work if you can get it.
Anyway, on to the figures. The basic allowance in the year 2003/04 was £7719.96 (automatically given to all councillors who serve the full 12 months) and the special responsibility figures are for people such as David Jones as he is leader of the largest party on the council and therefore leader of the council. These payments reflect the expected extra workload that comes with the position.
| COUNCILLORS | BASIC £s | SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY £s |
TOTAL £s |
| R Ahmad | 7719.96 | 8150.84 | 15870.80 |
| S Akhtar | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| A Ali | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| J R Anchor | 7719.96 | 4731.15 | 12451.11 |
| M Azam | 7719.96 | 5733.56 | 13453.52 |
| G Ball | 7719.96 | 815.84 | 8535.80 |
| S Barrow | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| S Bashforth | 6972.87 | - | 6972.87 |
| A L Bell | 6972.87 | 1368.00 | 8340.87 |
| N Bennett | 6972.87 | 815.84 | 7788.71 |
| R M Blyth | 7719.96 | 5733.56 | 13453.52 |
| T Brownridge | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| V Clayton | 747.09 | 747.10 | 1494.19 |
| J R Crowther | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| J J Curran | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| G R Currie | 4524.31 | 3310.26 | 7834.57 |
| P Dean | 7719.96 | 8150.84 | 15870.80 |
| A J Dillon | 7719.96 | 815.84 | 8535.80 |
| P Dillon | 7719.96 | 815.84 | 8535.80 |
| C Dugdale | 7719.96 | 1262.55 | 8982.51 |
| K Evans | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| A Farrell | 7719.96 | 387.90 | 8107.86 |
| K Ghafoor | 6972.87 | - | 6972.87 |
| C L Glover | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| J W Greenwood | 7719.96 | 5733.56 | 13453.52 |
| A P J Harrison | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| P J Harrison | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| D Heffernan | 7719.96 | 1770.45 | 9490.41 |
| D A Hayes | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| J Heyes | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| D R Hibbert | 7719.96 | 8150.84 | 15870.80 |
| C G Hilyer | 747.09 | 1494.19 | 2241.28 |
| R S Hindle | 7719.96 | 815.84 | 8535.80 |
| J Hudson | 6972.87 | - | 6972.87 |
| F Hussain | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| A Jabbar | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| S Jacobs | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| J Johnson | 7719.96 | 13183.92 | 20903.88 |
| D R Jones | 7719.96 | 21979.59 | 29699.55 |
| J Jones | 6972.87 | - | 6972.87 |
| N E Joynes | 747.09 | 995.81 | 1742.90 |
| B Judge | 7719.96 | 8150.84 | 15870.80 |
| M Kelly | 747.09 | - | 747.09 |
| R D Knowles | 7719.96 | 3182.91 | 10902.87 |
| K Knox | 7719.96 | 5351.83 | 13071.79 |
| J A Larkin | 6972.87 | - | 6972.87 |
| B Lord | 7719.96 | 5096.75 | 12816.71 |
| A Lyon | 747.09 | - | 747.09 |
| M Masud | 7719.96 | 5733.56 | 13453.52 |
| B J Mather | 7719.96 | 1272.42 | 8992.38 |
| J A McArdle | 7719.96 | 2088.26 | 9808.22 |
| H McDonald | 7719.96 | 8150.84 | 15870.80 |
| J McInnes | 747.09 | 498.38 | 1245.47 |
| J McMahon | 2766.32 | - | 2766.32 |
| K Pendlebury | 747.09 | 995.81 | 1742.90 |
| D Phelan | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| L Quinn | 7719.96 | 7215.40 | 14935.36 |
| V Sedgwick | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| A B Shah | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| M Sharif | 7719.96 | 815.84 | 8535.80 |
| C T Shyne | 747.09 | - | 747.09 |
| J Stanton | 7719.96 | 2088.26 | 9808.22 |
| J Stretton | 6433.30 | 1368.00 | 7801.30 |
| J M Sutcliffe | 7719.96 | 8150.84 | 15870.80 |
| H D Sykes | 7719.96 | 11149.16 | 18869.12 |
| M Uddin | 7317.41 | - | 7317.41 |
| M C Wheeler | 7719.96 | 815.84 | 8535.80 |
| S Williams | 7719.96 | - | 7719.96 |
| A Wingate | 7719.96 | 1770.45 | 9490.41 |
| TOTALS | 461826.15 | 206535.96 | 668362.11 |