Name: Councillor claims £7k in childcare expenses as he works 'hardest'
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Councillor claims £7k in childcare expenses as he works 'hardest'

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NewsCllr Louis Gardner explained the £7,000 in childcare was so he could do his work as the 'hardest working' member of the councilplymouthherald A councillor in the South West claimed a whopping £13,000 in expenses for travel and childcare. Some critics have accused the Conservative councillor of showing a lack of restraint. Cllr Louis Gardner, the Cornwall Council cabinet member for the economy, claimed £7,207.75 in dependents carers' allowance while also running his own business and claiming to spend 60 hours a week being the "hardest working councillor" in Cornwall. He also claimed more than £6,000 in travel and subsistence expenses. This is the highest such claim any councillor has made (April 2022 to March 2023). The councillor for Newquay has explained that very few members have very young children to be looked after like he does and that he travels hundreds of miles every week on council duty. He is one of only three councillors to have made a dependents claim during that period, but claimed more than 25 times as much as the next highest, reports CornwallLive. READ MORE: His fellow Conservative councillor for Liskeard Nick Craker claimed £60 and Mebyon Kernow councillor Loveday Jenkin for Wendron claimed £276. The list of councillors' expenses, which was leaked to CornwallLive ahead of being published on Cornwall Council's website, expected this week, shows that Cllr Gardner's expenses were the second highest, just behind council leader Linda Taylor. While Cllr Taylor received a total of £48,090.50, Cllr Gardner received £47,834.84, including these claims. The total paid out to all councillors last year was just over £1.8m. Every councillor receives a basic allowance of either £15,974.21 or £16,002.12. This has now been increased to £16,377.99 for the coming financial year running until April 2024. The leader of the council then receives £29,523.88 as a special responsibility allowance (rising to £30,299.38 for the coming year) on top of that, with deputy leader Cllr David Harris receiving £22,153.54 for the role (that will go up to £22,724.49 this year). On Cornwall Council's website, the members' allowance scheme details what extra special responsibility allowance each elected member also receives, depending on the portfolio they hold if they are members of the cabinet, whether they are the chairman or vice-chairman of the council and whether they are members of certain committees or even chairman or vice-chairman of certain committees. For example, the chairman of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee receives more than the chairman of the Harbours Board - respectively £9,589.81 and £3,029.94 (2023/24 bandings). The allowance scheme is divided into 11 bandings with mileage also paid at 45p a mile for a car, 24p per mile for a motorbike, 20p per mile for bicycles and 5p per mile for each extra passenger you may carry while car-sharing. The allowance document also details how much councillors can claim for breakfast, lunch and dinner while away on council duty as well as for B&amp;B overnight stays away from Cornwall (up to £121.53 in major cities and £155.91 in London) including £30.38 for staying with relatives or friends. When it comes to dependents carers' allowances either for an elderly or disabled relative or for a child, councillors can claim £7.20 per hour per adult dependant or £4.25 per hour for childcare (these are 2023 prices and were marginally smaller last year). We have asked Cllr Gardner to comment on why he claimed more than £7,200 in child care and more than £6,000 in travel expenses - the highest amount claimed by any councillor ahead of fellow cabinet member Cllr Oliver Monk, the cabinet member for housing (£3,648.21), and council leader Cllr Taylor (£2,564.50). The embattled councillor, who at the time covered by these expenses was the owner of The Old Counting House deli and café in Bank Street in Newquay, said that before he became a cabinet member he was the primary carer for his young son for three to four days a week while his wife worked full time in a front line NHS role. He said: "I currently claim three days per week for childcare of my son who is still only two years old to allow me to undertake the cabinet role full time five to six days per week." Using the £4.25 per hour for childcare used by Cornwall Council, his claim for £7,207.75 would equate to receiving child care expenses for 70 24-hour days a year or 1.4 24-hour days a week for looking after his infant son. Cllr Gardner said: "I spend the entire working week travelling all over Cornwall visiting businesses, organisations, charities and other entities supporting them with their applications for Shared Prosperity Funding and other external funding pots. Businesses tell me time and again that this is extremely useful and extremely important with no other person fulfilling this role within Cornwall. In the course of my duties I average 200 to 300 miles within Cornwall per week, in line with others that have held my position previously. "My diary and list of weekly appointments, usually in excess of 60 hours of commitments per week, can be clearly seen by any member of the council. Before I became a cabinet member I was the primary carer for my young son (11 months at my time of appointment) for three to four days per week as my wife works full time in a front line NHS role. I currently claim three days per week for childcare of my son who is still only two years old to allow me to undertake the cabinet role full time five to six days per week. "This is fully in line with the council's allowances procedure. It is, however, rare for a serving cabinet member to have a child of nursery school age. This will of course not be the case when he starts school." Cllr Gardner is not the only councillor or cabinet member to have infant children or young children or old or disabled dependents but is the only one in the cabinet to have claimed any dependents carers' allowance. He added: "One look at my social media will show anyone the amount of visits I make each week in the conduct of my role. I believe any cabinet member in my role should commit themselves fully to understanding the whole of Cornwall and face to face is by far the best way to do this. I fulfil more public and private engagements than any other member of the cabinet." CornwallLive was approached by opposition councillors who have questioned the large amount claimed by Cllr Gardner, with one - who did not want to be named - saying: "Most councillors show restraint. Other cabinet members go everywhere too and other couples plan work and childcare without Cornwall Council support. 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NewsCllr Louis Gardner explained the £7,000 in childcare was so he could do his work as the 'hardest working' member of the councilplymouthherald A councillor in the South West claimed a whopping £13,000 in expenses for travel and childcare. Some critics have accused the Conservative councillor of showing a lack of restraint. Cllr Louis Gardner, the Cornwall Council cabinet member for the economy, claimed £7,207.75 in dependents carers' allowance while also running his own business and claiming to spend 60 hours a week being the "hardest working councillor" in Cornwall. He also claimed more...

Councillor claims £7k in childcare expenses as he works 'hardest'

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