Exclusive: Town halls paying out thousands to absent members

As council tax continues to rise, more than 100 councillors attended 12 meetings or fewer during the course of a year and still received a full allowance, which can range from 5,000 to 50,000.

Eleven councillors attended five meetings or fewer in a year, while getting taxpayer-funded allowances of up to 13,000.

Others managed to collect five-figure sums after making only three official appearances, while one elected member went to just a single meeting but still pocketed 10,975.

Of the 22 local authorities in our region, seven were even unable to provide a record for their councillors' attendance – other than the minutes of every official meeting throughout the council year of 2009/2010.

The investigation prompted Kirklees Council, which did not provide any annual figures, to admit it would "refine" its current systems.

The Local Government Act of 1972 makes clear that councillors must attend one meeting every six months.

Independent councillor Donna Hollins attended just one meeting all year, in October 2009, but still qualified for Barnsley Council's full 10,975 remuneration package.

Mrs Hollins said she had been unable to attend because she had been suffering from stress, some of it brought on by revelations that she had been a member of the BNP.

She was expelled from being a councillor on April 12, 2010, six months after her last recorded appearance and a mere three weeks before the town's May local elections, but still got the full allowance.

Coun Malcolm Price, who served the same ward as Mrs Hollins and went to 48 out of 52 meetings, branded the situation "ridiculous".

"The system is absolutely ludicrous. Someone can go to just two meetings a year and still get their full allowance," he said.

The allowances that are paid vary depending on responsibility and cover all of the councillors' work, not just their attendance.

Authorities last night insisted that their elected members did much good work that did not show in the figures because meetings are the only form of councillor business that are fully monitored and recorded.

Fifteen authorities were able to send attendance records for each of their councillors.

The investigation also found many councillors who were very active, with four attending more than 100 meetings in the 2009-10 municipal year.

One councillor even received nothing for the entire 12-month period. Coun Chris Brown has never had a penny in allowances throughout his 27 years as a Harrogate councillor.

Rotherham Council had the worst percentage attendance for all its members, with a turnout rate of around 70 per cent. East Riding councillors went to nearly 91 per cent of meetings.

Ryedale councillors attended the fewest number of meetings on average – just shy of 17 – while Hull councillors went to more than 47 each.

Leeds Council paid its councillors the most, with an average annual allowance per member of 21,200, while Richmondshire councillors claimed just 4,200.

Minister for Local Government Grant Shapps said having councillors who relied on payment for their duties would be damaging to democracy.

He said: "In an era of localism, councillors will have an increasingly important role to play in holding town halls to account on behalf of their residents.

"But councillors must remain arms-length volunteers. It will be harmful for local democracy if they become dependant on the municipal pay packet."