Less than £40,000 claimed in expenses by Edinburgh councillors during past year

EXPENSES claimed by elected members of Edinburgh City Council in 2019/2020 totalled more than £38,000, according to new figures.

Between April 2019 and March this year, councillors claimed £38,027, with Lord Provost Frank Ross claiming the highest amount at £4,753.

The total expenses figure is relatively low for a large city council, indicating councillors across all parties have been exercising caution when deciding to lodge claims.

In 2019/2020 Glasgow City Councillor members expenses totalled £104,187. Meanwhile, councillors on the City of Aberdeen authority claimed a total of £41,237.

Throughout the entire 2019/2020 year Edinburgh councillors only expensed £4.15 on meals and £75 on conferences.

No money was claimed on private car mileage and the only person to have expensed accommodation costs was Lord Provost Frank Ross, whose job requires frequent travel.

Discounting salaries, the highest amount of taxpayer pounds passed on to councillors goes towards their travel expenses, including bus, train and taxi fares.

Lothian Buses annual passes cost £665 per person, however not all councillors opt to be given one.

Information and communication technology, including mobile phone bills, are the second highest expense group claimed by councillors, costing taxpayers £10,270.

During the 2019/2020 period only two councillors’ expenses claims stood out substantially from the rest.

In October last year it was revealed that Labour councillor Lezley Marion Cameron tallied up almost £1,500 on taxis since 2017 – including two trips to the cinema, the Vue at the Omni Centre and Cineworld at Fountainbridge.

Following this revelation she resigned from her role as council Vice Finance Convener and has not made any claims on taxis since January this year.

Another larger taxpayer bill was payed to former Conservative turned independent Cllr Ashley Graczyk.

Cllr Graczyk racked up £2384 in phone bills predominantly due to using mobile data to supplement lacking Wi-Fi in her office.

Cllr Graczyk said: “I’m a profoundly deaf City of Edinburgh councillor and fully dependent on lip-reading.

“Having instant access to communications is vital to enable me to do my job properly at the City Chambers and to support constituents in my Sighthill-Gorgie ward.”

She added: “Due to being deaf I cannot make or receive phone calls, so I’m dependent on the internet to communicate, message staff, read reports, FaceTime, and keep track of email communications.

“My new office at the time did not have internet access so I used mobile data to compensate so I could do my work, without realising the utterly extortionate charges. The council receives all councillors’ phone bills, and a council officer contacted my assistant who immediately told me.

“I was absolutely mortified and immediately demanded a cap to be put on my iPhone to ensure this does not happen again and I also requested a cap on my iPad as a precaution. “

“Since then there has been no more extortionate charges and I’m now in another office which has Wi-Fi internet access.”

On top of being able to claim expenses, every councillor is entitled to an annual salary.

On April 1 this year all councillors received a 2.2 per cent pay rise.

The annual salary of an ordinary Edinburgh councillor in 2020/21 is now £17,854.

Councillors who are conveners or vice conveners of various committees are paid higher salaries up to £32,759.

The Council Leader Adam McVey is paid £53,567, while Depute Leader Cammy Day and Lord Provost Frank Ross each receive a salary of £40,175.

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