£1.9M FUEL CLAIM BILL FACES CUT
MILEAGE allowance payments of up to £1.06-a-mile for council staff using their cars at work are to be slashed to try to save £790,000 a year.
Documents obtained by The Sentinel show Stoke-on-Trent council officers were paid a total of £1.9 million in just 12 months for covering 3.1 million miles.
Now the authority wants to cut the allowances to just over £1.2 million a year by introducing a flat rate of 40p for all claims.
But finance chiefs are warning the costly system is being used as a perk by council managers to recruit and retain key staff.
The main target is the £505,831 paid out in allowances and lump sum payments last year to essential car users, who travelled just 476,794 miles; equivalent to £1.06 per mile.
The other £1.4 million was paid to casual car users, who made almost 17,000 mileage expense claims and travelled more than 2.5 million miles.
Their reimbursement works out at 56p per mile.
The mileage review report states: "The essential user scheme was based upon status and designation as opposed to actual mileage travelled.
"The average cost per mile for an essential user was £1.06, making the scheme a very costly way of reimbursing staff for travel in their own cars.
"It has been stated that the essential user scheme is used as an incentive for recruitment and retention of staff."
Mileage expenses are banded by engine size, with higher rates for staff driving larger cars.
A casual user with a two-litre engine vehicle can claim 60.1p per mile, compared to a maximum of 42.9p for a one-litre car.
The council's 297 essential car users can claim up to 46.4p per mile, but they also receive a lump sum of between £795 and £1,170 a year, depending on engine size, to compensate for wear and tear.
The report states that the 40p rate is approved by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
But plans to implement the cutbacks in the New Year were stopped by new chief executive John van de Laarschot to allow for more negotiations with staff.
Trade unions are fighting the cuts and say the 40p flat rate would not cover workers' running costs.
Stoke-on-Trent Unison branch secretary Colin Walton, pictured, said: "We are not prepared to allow our members to subsidise the local authority when they use their own cars to do council work.
"The 40p rate would actually be subsidising the council to the tune of about 20p per mile."
He added: "The proposals are still under discussion after the new chief executive asked for more meaningful talks, so we don't know how far the cuts will go."
Workers will find out more about the plans at two consultation events later this month.
Councillor Kieran Clarke, council cabinet member for resources, said: "It is something that needs to be looked at, but there must be a clear distinction made between casual car users and essential car users.
"There is the possibility of having a number of pool cars."
15 Comments
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by Tim, Taxpayer
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 9:38PM
“£1.06-a-mile, what are they driving.
It is £1.06 for 1 litre of petrol.
This Council make me Sick, I hate them milking the hard working Taxpayer.”
by james, stoke
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 9:31PM
“Everybody wants to work for Stoke council. Deep troughs for quaffing masses of silver in expenses, inefficient services; weak and laughable councillors, useless heads of department, leaders who throw a tantrum when passed over for promotion. Stoke is Las Vegas. We pay for this pool of useless administrators. Let's go back to STAFFORD.”
by Chris Cooper, Newcastle
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 8:08PM
“Seems like most people miss the point these are Service Conditions that are agreed across the whole of the UK in all Local Authorities and to understand the make of them you must understand that the Council are talking about two systems of remuneration for their employees using their own cars on the business that they are paid to perform.
The system whereby the "soldiers" if you like are paid is fair, they are out on the frontline performing a job that could be anything from Inspecting things, Child Protection etc.This is called "casual user" Where the unfair comes in is that it would be cheaper to pay the "soldiers" "Essential user" which pays a nationally agreed Lump Sum, and pays a much reduced rate per mile, and is the system that is at faullt as the "lump sum" element is paid regardless of whether the recipient uses it or not, hence as a gambit to employ supposed "better" candidates it is used as a gambit to attract employees to come to Stoke. This system is a bribe being used by Stoke that appears not to be being used in other Local Authorities. I believe it was expanded by one of our illustrious former mares.
How you atrract staff to Stoke is a unique problem, as whenever an introduced system of work is installed some new replacement comes along and changes and the whole organisation degenerates in in fighting, the only losers are the people of Stoke.
Myself I`d be ignoring this little spat, take a good look around theres something else going on somewhere, this is a smokescreen. Who knows "surf boy" can perhaps get people skate boarding around the City, or hes going to come in and reinvent yet another wheel, re invent Centalisation? De- Centralisation, Agency, Hubs etc etc. When is someone going to accept they have a job to do at Stoke and get on with it, without washing the linen in Public?????
Theres absolutely millions of savings that can be made at the Council and not affect services, it needs a bit of passion and infectious enthusiasm, and some NEW COUNCILLORS”
by anon, stoke-on-trent
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 6:42PM
“At nearly 2 million no private company with similar staff numbers would see this spending has small beer, it wouldn't happen anyway. I did wonder how many of these Council staff moaned about the MPs, that would be a cheek. Don't take the cars off the Cllrs though, poor Cllr Mrs Bates was struggling to get out of her door on her zimmer frame a fortnight ago, prehaps these doddery Cllrs would be better with a ambelance, a new glasses, so they can read what they sign for.”
by Dave, Stoke
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 5:47PM
“What an utter disgrace, Inland Revenue rules are that 40p per mile is the maximum rate that can be claimed for the first 10,000 miles per annum and 25p thereafter. Typical Council scammers on the gravy train!”