REVEALED: Expenses claimed by Highland Councillors last year, find out if your councillor makes the top 10 most expensive or least expensive
It is that time of year when the public gets to learn how much Highland Councillors have claimed in expenses and how much they have been paid in total.
So keep reading to find out:
• The names of the two hungry councillors who ate enough to claim for 59 per cent of the total expenses for meals
• Who was the most expensive councillor overall
• And who was the least expensive, making exactly zero claims for expenses.
There are more than 70 elected members representing the Highlands, though it must be remembered that some resigned during this term and one passed away.
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Collectively they were paid in 2024-25 financial year £1,697,961.34; they claimed £132,290.76 in expenses for a combined sum of £1,830,252.10.
The final figure for mileage came in at more than £90,000; other direct travel was just under £2000; accommodation hit £26,471; and meals reached £3348.
The telephone bill reached a whopping £9649 while all other expenses came to £779.68.
For various reasons some councillors stood out so we compiled tables of the top 10 most expensive councillor expense claimants.
The two highest claimants are Cllr Patrick Logue and Cllr Ruraidh Stewart and they were so high that in the private sector their expenses would account for an equivalent 30 per cent annual pay rise.
What is notable about their expenses is the huge levels they reach for accommodation and meals. The cost of travel is partially understandable and working on the principle that they are both resident in their wards they do have to travel large distances.
But what really makes their claims stand out is how fond they are of eating - both sought expenses of around the £1000 mark.
To put that in context, between the two of them alone they made up 59 per cent of the total expenses for meals charged to the tax payer.
They also shelled out a lot for accommodation - Cllr Logue paid £1572 while Cllr Stewart paid £3359 - the average for all the other councillors is £368.
For the others in the top 10 it is clear that they are claiming for driving to the meetings at the local authority as all of them represent wards that are in Caithness, Sutherland, Wester Ross or Skye.
The senior leadership team consists of councillors who chair what are called the strategic committees, namely - Communities and Place; Corporate Resources; Economy and Infrastructure; Education; Health and Social Care; and Housing and Property.
In fairness, they all must attend many more meetings with officials and others throughout the year than regular councillors so it is natural that their expenses are higher.
Though also in fairness only one of them claimed more expenses than Councillors Logue and Stewart and that was leader Raymond Bremner, who perhaps has the most demands on his time and travel of all.
The councillors who placed the least demands on the public purse through expenses included opposition leader Alasdair Christie who again sought zero expenses.
Nine others only claimed for the use of a mobile phone provided by the local authority, including some who represent wards quite far from the council HQ.
Apart from them, Inverness Cllr Alex Graham at £48.33 missed out on the top 10 by 33p while Cllr Jackie Hendry claimed for £50 and Cllr Isabelle MacKenzie £52.29.
