Today, Cumbria County Council publishes details of councillor's allowances and expenses for 2004/05.
All councillors are entitled to a basic allowance of £7,194 per annum which is intended to recognise the time commitment of councillors and costs such as the use of councillor's homes. The county council pays an additional allowance to some councillors, known as special responsibility allowance. This recognises the extra responsibilities and workloads, for members of the Cabinet, Chairs and vice-chairs of local committees and scrutiny panels etc for example.
Both the basic and the special responsibility allowances are recommended to the council by an Independent Remuneration Panel. The council accepted the Panel's recommendations.
Councillors can also claim re-imbursement of travel and accommodation expenses for approved county council duties.