Member expenses

All councillors receive a basic allowance based on guidance decided by pan-London group London Councils of £10,599 per annum.

Councillors that take on extra roles are also entitled to a special responsibility allowance (SRA).

The SRAs are in six bands and range from £2,771 for roles including deputy leader of the opposition, to £50,065 which is paid to the Leader of the Council.

These payments are published annually on the member allowances page.

Download the members' allowances scheme 2010-11.

Councillors are entitled to claim expenses for a limited number of costs that fall outside the allowance. Each claim is assessed against a stringent set of guidance set in the council's constitution.

Here are examples of things that can be claimed for

• Travel as part of formal duties.
• Subsistence if away from home as part of formal duties.
• Child care and dependent carer allowance.
• Appropriate operational costs.

Expenses

The following information is supplied as a matter of record in addition to the statutorily required annual publication of member allowances and prescribed expenses. The roles of members vary widely as do the demands and expectations of their constituents and these need to be borne in mind when making any comparison between individual members.

The publishing of expenses follows a decision by Southwark Council's standards committee and is part of the authority's commitment to openness.

The council cautions against these figures being used for comparison purposes as councillors have different responsibilities and different personal circumstances.

Members' expenses 01 April - 30 September 2009

Members' conference fees and transport expenses 01 April - 30 September 2009

Members' journals expenses 01 April - 30 September 2009

More information on what can be claimed under expenses is online in the Council's Constitution