contacts       site map       write for us It’s taken a while but it looks like Mayor, Stuart Drummond is finally getting the hang of how the remuneration system for Councillors actually works. Following the electoral demise of former Cabinet Member Victor Tumilty there’s been a bit of a shake up of Hartlepool representation on the Cleveland Police Authority. Mayor Drummond has somehow managed to secure for himself, with the help of a few others, a seat on the authority - while Carl Richardson has inherited Victor’s old seat. Membership brings with it an additional allowance of around £10,000 plus mileage and subsistence allowances. As a guide, last year fellow police authority member Caroline Barker managed to claim a total of £10,949.52 which included £766 car mileage allowance and £571 subsistence allowance. The other two Hartlepool representatives Victor Tumilty and Steve Wallace claimed a total of £11,692 and £9,918 respectively. Police Authority allowances are paid in addition to the basic allowances paid to Councillors and all such payments are liable for tax and N.I.C. payments; the current basic allowance stands at £5,767 per annum. Carl Richardson currently receives the basic allowance of £5,767 plus a special allowance as Chair of the Council of £4,614 and now a Police Authority Allowance of around £11,000 making  £21,381 in total. The budgetary cost of the Mayor is estimated at around £75,000 with an actual salary of around £61,686 (2009) now boosted to around £72,000. The payment raises an interesting question in that, unlike Councillors, the position of Mayor is classed as a full time position which effectively comes with it’s own, full-time salary. It follows therefore, that when Drummond attends Police Authority Meetings, he is in the position of being paid twice for the same time period. Reference 1 Reference 2