Councillors claim expenses for walking

Councillors are paying themselves expenses for walking to meetings, claiming the move will help the environment.

Elected members of at least two local authorities have introduced payments from the public purse for travelling on foot, as an alternative to the milage allowances they can claim for driving their own cars. Councillors at Braintree district council, in Essex, are entitled to claim £1 every time they travel on foot to official meetings or functions.

Their counterparts at Weymouth and Portland borough council, Dorset, can claim travel expenses at a uniform rate of 40p-a-mile regardless of whether they walk, cycle or drive their car.

The policy is designed to encourage councillors to set an example to the community by leaving their cars at home.

But it has not proved immediately popular with those entitled to receive the money. In 2006/07, the first year the new system was operating in Braintree, councillors claimed a total of only £3 for walking, while the car mileage bill was £13,840.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It is absurd to pay travel expenses for walking. The whole point of expenses is that they cover any bills incurred, not to pay rewards for doing something the council think is nice. What next, a kindness-to-animals bonus?"