West Berkshire Council Chief Executive’s Expenses Options

[Villager]

Details of the Chief Executive's (Nick Carter) expenses for the last 3 years are available on http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ceo_...incoming-189285 for download.

www.whatdotheyknow.com facilitates Freedom of Information Act requests and publishes the results which make very interesting reading.

Surprisingly, Nick Carter’s expenses show that he lives 35 miles from Newbury. He claimed a round trip of home to Newbury to home on 29/01/2011 of 70 miles.

Nick Carter obviously does not have to live with the decisions made by West Berkshire Council which affect us all. No wonder he seems to me to be so distant from it all!

Living so far away there is also the question of what happens in any civil emergency or problem affecting West Berkshire. He will not be able to get to Newbury promptly to deal with this and if we get heavy snow like the last couple of years he will be going nowhere.

I also wonder why he gets paid mileage allowance for home to office in addition to his huge salary. Normal businesses do not pay this.

[Nothing Much]

Thanks for posting this Villager, I don't live near Newbury but know a lot. Some will make fun.
Mrs Nothing Much ,during the storms Michael Fish has been forgiven for, she walked into her Westminster office
She had to open a COBRA type room. A 3 mile walk. She set off at about 4am. It is a long time ago.
Memories fade, I think a minister was the next to arrive. Heseltine or the other one. but it was serious panic

There was a Post Office lorry blocking our road.
It had tried to U turn but ended up with the cab in the cellar of the house next door.

Local politicians shoud be local. End of my ramble

[user23]

Wasn't 29/01/2011 a Saturday?

[Simon Kirby]

What jumps out at me is:

1. The Council's Information Management Officer, Sue Broughton, responded prompty and diligently, and gave very good feed-back while she assembled the response. It's my experience that in general councils don't respond well to requests for information and WBC are well ahead of the game here - well done Ms. Broughton, and well done WBC.

2. Nick Carter claims a milage allowance of 10p per mile, and this hardly even covers his fuel costs. OK, so he takes an obscenely large salary, but WBC deserve recognition for setting a frugal allowance, as again it's pretty common to find councils with a milage allowance of 60p/mile - so thank you WBC, it's noted and appreciated.

[Strafin]

Explain to me again why he should claim for going to and from his place of work?

[Dodgys smarter b...]

Surprisingly, Nick Carter’s expenses show that he lives 35 miles from Newbury. He claimed a round trip of home to Newbury to home on 29/01/2011 of 70 miles.

Why is that surprising?

[Strafin]

Why is that surprising?

I would only be surprised if I found out he lived outside of West Berkshire.

[Cognosco]

I would only be surprised if I found out he lived outside of West Berkshire.

It would be surprising if he did live in West Berskshire, after they way he is runnng it down, it makes more sense not to have to live in West Berkshire!

[Roost]

Not sure, but if you took a look at a map, would Newbury to any corner West Berks stretch as far as 35miles?

It's probably 20 ish to the border of Reading, 3 to Hampshire, 12 to Wiltshire and maybe 8 to Oxfordshire.

My guess would be that he does live outside West Berkshire.

[Guest_xjay1337_*]

What jumps out at me is:

2. Nick Carter claims a milage allowance of 10p per mile, and this hardly even covers his fuel costs. OK, so he takes an obscenely large salary, but WBC deserve recognition for setting a frugal allowance, as again it's pretty common to find councils with a milage allowance of 60p/mile - so thank you WBC, it's noted and appreciated.

Agreed on that one. He gets a car allowance most likely as part of his salary (usually around £4,000 per year, depends on company, council, whatever). Besides, 60 miles is like, £6 of fuel in my car. har har.

Having had a quick scan through his expenses they seem perfectly reasonable to me.

[Strafin]

So Xjay, and Simon; you bith think it is reasonable for the chief executive of West Berkshire Council to claim a mileage allowance (on top of his £130k), just for getting to the office?

[Simon Kirby]

Agreed on that one. He gets a car allowance most likely as part of his salary (usually around £4,000 per year, depends on company, council, whatever). Besides, 60 miles is like, £6 of fuel in my car. har har.

Having had a quick scan through his expenses they seem perfectly reasonable to me.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying.

[Bartholomew]

So Xjay, and Simon; you bith think it is reasonable for the chief executive of West Berkshire Council to claim a mileage allowance (on top of his £130k), just for getting to the office?

Looking at the expenses, I can't see any evidence that there has been a regular claim from home to work. There are a couple of instances where I assume that he was not in Newbury and claimed to and from home.
What I do find a little strange (but not against the rules) is to claim trips of 3 miles. Yes, I know it all adds up but to be honest, I'd probably have walked a mile and a half each way.
It does seem overall to be a very high package (maybe not in terms of other head of councils) but I look at my Council Tax and realise that a good portion of it is going this way.

[Phil_D11102]

Looking at the expenses, I can't see any evidence that there has been a regular claim from home to work. There are a couple of instances where I assume that he was not in Newbury and claimed to and from home.
What I do find a little strange (but not against the rules) is to claim trips of 3 miles. Yes, I know it all adds up but to be honest, I'd probably have walked a mile and a half each way.
It does seem overall to be a very high package (maybe not in terms of other head of councils) but I look at my Council Tax and realise that a good portion of it is going this way.

Even with my car allowance I make less than half of what this guy is making. When I travel to a customer site on a day trip, I don't claim mileage as I get a car allowance, regardless of the distance. The only time I put in an expense claim when I travel to central London as I do the train and tube, and have to as I use my corporate credit card.

[NWNREADER]

Regardless of anything else, and as mentioned earlier, 29 Jan was a Saturday. That means not a 'normal' working day so one for which he is doubtless entitled to claim the cost of travel to work.
Or have I missed the point?

[Andy Capp]

I really don't see the problem. Lots of companies pay out of pocket expenses. They won't usually pay for travelling to and from work in your normal working day, but will pay for any journeys beyond that. 10p a mile seems a bit stingy.

[Simon Kirby]

I really don't see the problem. Lots of companies pay out of pocket expenses. They won't usually pay for travelling to and from work in your normal working day, but will pay for any journeys beyond that. 10p a mile seems a bit stingy.

Quite so.

At 45 mpg you're getting through 14p of fuel per mile, so it is a stingy rate, but then again it does engourage frugal driving and the choice of an ecconomical car - good values for a public authority.

It depends on the car, but unless he's driving a little LPG runabout HMRC reckon it costs a couple more pence per mile for the fuel-only company car.

[Villager]

Some clarification to my original post:

Nick Carter has a leased car provided by West Berks Council and the rate of 12/14p per mile is to cover fuel costs.

Looking at his overall mileage I think that he must do about 20,000 miles per year taking into account the 70 mile round trip to the office. Leased cars become very expensive once you go over 10,000 miles per year owing to the huge depreciation that this causes and this affects all makes of car.

It seems to me that council taxpayers are paying for the cost of Nick Carter living 35 miles away from Newbury if the council pays for the full leasing on his car. The fuel claimed is a very tiny proportion of this cost.

If you draw a circle of 35 miles radius around Newbury you will not find a location that is anywhere near the West Berkshire area. Possible places 35 miles from Newbury are Guildford, Southampton, Chippenham and Oxford.

My point is that for what Nick Carter is paid he should be living within the West Berkshire Area. I notice that plenty of people have christened Newbury 'cartergrad' but at the end of the day at 5:00pm Nick Carter is off home to somewhere miles away where the decisions of West Berkshire Council do not have any bearing on him or his family. He can just shut the door on us.

[Guest_xjay1337_*]

So Xjay, and Simon; you bith think it is reasonable for the chief executive of West Berkshire Council to claim a mileage allowance (on top of his £130k), just for getting to the office?

In a word, yes. However normally this does not include travel from home to place of work and only includes meetings, etc. I can't really see (as others have said) a regular home-work so can't see the problem.

[Andy Capp]

My point is that for what Nick Carter is paid he should be living within the West Berkshire Area. I notice that plenty of people have christened Newbury 'cartergrad' but at the end of the day at 5:00pm Nick Carter is off home to somewhere miles away where the decisions of West Berkshire Council do not have any bearing on him or his family. He can just shut the door on us.

He could also have a local home, only to move out when he's 'had enough'.