As another blow to the Government surrounding the MP’s expenditure claims, it emerged today that a council in Wales has overpaid councillors for their travelling allowances.

Gwynedd council has admitted it has been paying councillors 46.9p per mile rather than 40p. This may not sound like much, but between the period of January 2006 and December 2008 the total figure is estimated at £17,000.

Granted, this is not the councillors’ fault themselves, they did not claim this amount, but the fact that public money was spent on this is the issue.  I’m not entirely sure why they get their travel expenses paid in the first place. There are not many jobs out there who will pay for their employees to get to work, it is the responsiblity of the employee to make sure they can get to work, and if they can’t do it, then tough, they don’t get the job.

Some jobs will provide payment if someone is travelling for work purposes to attend meetings,which is fair enough, and if thd allowances are for those purposes, I have no qualms, but if they are contributing towards councillors getting to work in the first place, it seems an unfair way of wasting public money. When resources are tight and everyone is struggling to pay taxes, I’m sure they would like to see it go to something that benefits themselves, for instance to be put straight into local services such as transport, not to help a councillor pay for an expensive taxi to work, when they have other options.

The money is being reclaimed with the backing of the council’s five political groups, which is only fair, otherwise  it is stealing. If you are paid too much and do not return it, it is theft under the law, so they are probabaly in no hurry to moan about having to pay it back.

But this issue brings a wider debate to table. Should councillors and MP’s be paid expenses at all?  MP’s have been hit particulaly hard lately, with Home Secreatary Jackie Smith being at the forefront of the abuse for her second home and then the scandal of her husband watching a porn film that was claimed as an expense.

The whole thing is getting out of control and it needs to be capped. Yes, MP’s should not have to pay out of their own pockets to work in London as well as their constituency, but there shuld be a limit, becasue at the moment the system seems far too open to abuse. And it is getting abused. Gordon Brown made a video link on the Number 10 website today suggesting reforms for the system, including a set allowance and payment for attending meetings. Surely that is paying someone for doing their job, something they are being paid for anyway in their salary? It is going round in circles.

The report from the Welsh council also said councillors received £300 techonology allowances if they provided an email address. What exactly is that for? It all seems a bit pointless.

The system needs to stop paying out extras on top of salaries for people who are meant to be serving the interests of the public and protecting their well-being. If they really wanted to do this, they would stop using the money on themsleves and put it into the system where the public themselves can benefit from it.