Sunderland councillor Neville Padgett has splashed out over £1,000 a year on his weekly ‘litter tours’. The Sunderland City councillor has made the 51 mile journey of every road in his Washington East ward on the lookout for litter, based in his very own car.
The backbench councillor has shamelessly claimed £7,084.80 on travel expenses, accounting for 26 per cent of the total £26,000 bill in 2012/13. The spending doesn’t stop there though. Padgett is also responsible for a massive 52 per cent of the total subsistence allowance, claiming a whopping £4,026.47 of the £7k bill.
It’s not the first time he’s left Sunderland residents picking up his massive expenses bill. Since his 2010 election, Councillor Padgett has consistently claimed the greatest travel expenses, on top of his basic £8,000 a year allowance. His claims have left some colleagues disgruntled with one stating that‘he even claimed on Valentine’s Day’.
The councillor charges the taxpayer for food and drink claims for nearly every working day and for some Saturdays too. His expenses account for a third of the total amount claimed by all 75 councillors!
Here’s hoping that someone else – other than the taxpayers – picks up Councillor Padgett’s food and drink bill this Valentine’s Day.