Councillors' allowance list revealed

Published Date: 12 June 2009
By Charles Graham
Official figures reveal councillors in Wigan claimed more than £1m in allowances over the last year.

Newly-released documents show that the amount has climbed steadily from £879,900 four years ago to break the seven-figure barrier for the first time in the financial period 2007-2008.

The local authority has published a list of allowances claimed

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http://www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Councillors39-allowance-list-revealed.5360940.jp?CommentPage=1&CommentPageLength=10#comments

1 whatnicknameisnotinusethen?,
12/06/2009 11:25:53
Interesting. I thank Wigantoday for this information.Its interesting to note P.R. Franzen who has stated publicly on this very same site he has not claimed a penny whilst a councilor."FRANZEN, P R Not elected May2008 £1,808.35"

2 Desparate Dan,
12/06/2009 12:06:56
Old news this was diclosed in the Wigan Reporter last week? Suggest they consider handing out all expense paid summer destiation vouchers to all Wiganners who pay their Council Tax. Might even restore our faith in their integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! !! !

3 whatnicknameisnotinusethen?,
12/06/2009 13:00:03
I just want my money back.

4 A Grafter,
12/06/2009 13:34:29
I wonder why these people set out to be councillors, is it to help their constituents, in which case we need more of those. Or is it because they can get 30k a year for doing it? If these people are full time councillors then they should get paid. One thing is for sure anyone who is doing a full time job and an extensive councillor role isn't doing justice to one of the roles, and I think you can guess which one that is likely to be.(Clue: which one would he get sacked from?)

5 tongue in cheek,
on the edge 12/06/2009 14:46:18
oink ! oink !

6 celedrialjoy,
wigan 12/06/2009 15:28:17
I notice that they have not mentioned jeanette prescott, the wife of paul prescott or her expenses. must be nice keeping it in the family. Double snouts in the trough.

7 trucker john,
pemberton 12/06/2009 15:42:28
pigs in the trough come to mind, councillor prescott claiming £25000,a year,£500 a week which is £70 a day,he is elected to look after the people in pemberton, and norley hall is one of the deprived areas of wigan, how has he got the shame to show his face to the people of his ward, plus his wife has claimed a small fortune,he should be ashamed of himself,and as for lord smith £200000 over four years,the sooner they are slung out of office the better

8 Peter Franzen,
golborne 12/06/2009 16:18:11
Comment number 1 whatnicknameisnotinusethen?,12/06/2009 11:25:53 Hi whatnicknameisnotinusethen?You said QUOTEInteresting. I thank Wigantoday for this information.Its interesting to note P.R. Franzen who has stated publicly on this very same site he has not claimed a penny whilst a councilor."FRANZEN, P R Not elected May2008 £1,808.35"UNQUOTEApparently you do not understand the difference between allowances and expenses.Never-the-less you should take the trouble to acquaint yourself with the facts before you come on here hiding behind your anonymous pseudonym and accusing people of lying.Allowances are not claimed, but are paid automatically as reimbursement for Councillors duties and responsibilities, and are subject to deductions of income tax and National Insurance contributions.For the avoidance of doubt in six years as a Councillor I never claimed a penny in expenses.The recent WEP articles that have been regurgitated ad nauseum over the past few weeks are nothing more than a red herring to blur the difference between Councillors expenses and allowances and divert attention away from the real scandal of MP’s expenses.As for your fantastic claims of 480,000 supporters of Al-Qaeda in the UK, have you reported them to the police?Peter FranzenLeader Community Action Party

9 Kettle,
Wigan 12/06/2009 17:04:48
How many would be Councillors if there were no expenses?

10 whatnicknameisnotinusethen?,
12/06/2009 17:14:28
Apologies. Yes, my error. ALLOWANCES!Its an adopted system off the EU. Not content with being able to claim the expenses off the taxman. Allowances go on top.So, you complained that this is beyond the pale and required it to stop?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Al-Qaeda:The cops/MI5/MI6 etc. know the figures. Its been leaked to the press and has been posted all over the net too. Don't worry about it.Now, being in the BNP is apparently, a lot worse than Al-qaeda, Sin Fein, Common purpose, etc.

11 Morgan,
12/06/2009 20:18:57
PeterPeople hide behind psuedonyms for fear of a visit from your friends in the Clawhammer Gang; or fear of abusive phone calls, of which I have had several.I use my real name because these days I have only myself to consider, but most people are a little younger than me and still have children at home to consider.

12 Morgan,
12/06/2009 22:02:16
This looks a likely thread for the attentions of the deleter. As a consequence I've copied it over to the Wigan Today Comments blog. Copy your comments over to their if you want to by-pass the deleter's attempts to censor you.http://wigantodaycomments.blogspot.com/

13 Morgan,
12/06/2009
Error – their = there

To continue copying comments over, continue in the comments thread here. You don’t have to type them out twice – just copy/paste them.

Morg

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