Lest anyone think that it's only MPs and MEPs who make a pretty penny out of the taxpayer in return for their public service, a post over at Iain Dale's Diary draws our attention to Councillors' "allowances". Iain's point is of course set against a party political background, but even disregarding the rights and the wrongs of the case it's amazing how much money some Councillors can make.
The Councillor particularly in the spotlight here is one Les Byrom, who Iain says earns £7,596 for leading the Tories on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority, plus £9,996 for Chairing the Local Government Association's Fire Committee. According to Sefton Council's Constitution, as a Councillor he gets a further £7,017.
On top of that he presumably earns an allowance for being part of the unelected North West Regional Assembly - although I couldn't find details of the allowances on their web site, and no-one seems to be answering the phone at their rather expensive office.
All in all, then, that's an annual earning of £24,609 in so-called "allowances", not including the wedge as a member of the Regional Assembly. Not a bad deal if you can get it!