Ceredigion Council has released details of councillors' expenses for the past year after being contacted by local media eager to find a Ceredigion equivalent of the Westminster expenses scandal.So firstly, I have some owning up to do. Here, for the first time, are this councillor's full, audited, itemised expenses for the past year:
£0
Nope, nothing at all. And I'm in good company. Of the 42 Ceredigion councillors there are ten others who have claimed no expenses. They are:
Rob Gorman (Plaid Cymru)
Aled Davies (Plaid Cymru)
Rhodri Davies (Plaid Cymru)Odwyn Davies (Plaid Cymru)
Owen Llywelyn (Plaid Cymru)Elizabeth Evans (Lib Dem)
Mark Cole (Lib Dem)Sarah Hopley (Independent)
Peter Davies (Independent)
Non-claimers include all three Plaid councillors in Aberystwyth.
I'll let other media outlets dig around for scandal amongst those claiming but, just to let you know roughly what kind of figures we're talking about, the total expense bill for councillors since last May's elections is £40,154 with the highest claimer being Council Leader Keith Evans at £3572, mainly spent on travel. I'm not his biggest fan but clearly the role of Council Leader has to entail getting around the County a bit.
Whilst travel comprises the bulk of the claims much of this is self-explanatory, i.e. those at the furthest ends of the county or on the Cabinet claim the most. So, although small by comparison, it may be the petty claims for meals at Penmorfa's already inexpensive canteen that provide the best anecdotes for the press. I understand one local paper has requested access to full receipts so they should have an interesting time sorting through piles of chits for quiche, chips and peas from the Council cafeteria.