FOI Request - Elected Member Expense Claims
Request 101003816026
1. Please provide a breakdown of itemised expenses claims for each elected member of The Moray Council from 2017 – present. For each itemised claim for each councillor, please include:
a) Date expense incurred;
b) Date claimed;
c) Category of claim (transport, IT, etc);
d) Purpose and/or description of claim;
e) Amount claimed;
f) Amount paid.
2. Please include any claims that were not paid and an explanation as to why they were not paid.
3. Please provide all correspondence where concerns have been raised about councillor claims, whether by officers or internal or external auditors.
Response 29-07-2025
1. To provide the information broken down as requested it would take approximately 49 hours. This task would cost the Council in excess of £600 of staff time. In accordance with section 12 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (excessive cost), we are therefore unable to comply with this part of the request.
In order to be helpful please note, Councillors' Allowances and Expenses are published and available on the Moray Council website. This information is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_90017.html
2. The monitoring officer has been asked for a view on several expense claims over the last 3 years. This tends to be a conversation with the Head of HR and OD which takes place before they are signed off. On two occasions Councillors have queried other Councillor claims, with one being investigated by the Council's Internal Auditor. The Monitoring Officer is not aware of any expenses claims being refused or repaid as a result of this scrutiny.
The Council is considering publishing the detail of every councillor expense claim for transparency and a report is due to council later this year.
3. Advice has been given by the Monitoring Officer to individual councillors on specific claims. This advice is given within a protected space and is considered to fall within the exemption under Section 30 of FOISA - release being prejudicial to conduct of public affairs. There is a public interest in councillors having access to confidential advice.