by Stephen Waite

Swale's county councillors received nearly £150,000 in allowances and expenses last year, figures published by Kent County Council last week show.

The borough’s seven members cost taxpayers £147,871 in 2011/12 out of a total of £1.8 million.

The biggest earner was Swale Central’s Cllr Mike Whiting (pictured), whose allowances and expenses totalled £37,823, the majority of which came from being KCC’s cabinet member for education.

He also receives an allowance from Swale council after winning the Kemsley seat in March.

But he said it was fair compensation for the hours he puts in, including evenings and weekends.

“It’s a very time-consuming job,” he said. “I think people get good value for money. I regularly do 50-hour weeks.

"We’ve had no inflationary increase in the allowance since 2009, which is absolutely the right thing to do when staff have had no pay rise for a couple of years.”

Cllr Whiting gave up a full-time role with a travel company near Hythe before making a living as a councillor, becoming first a deputy and then a cabinet member.

He described his role as “the best job in the world” but said he would expect to earn “considerably more” in the private sector.

At the opposite end of the scale was Swale West representative Cllr Keith Ferrin, who was among a small group of county councillors not to claim a penny.

He said he had been contacted by KCC’s internal audit department asking him if he had forgotten to submit his expenses.

“I just feel that in difficult times councillors should make a gesture of solidarity with ordinary folk,” he said. “I decided that it was appropriate for me to stop claiming, which I did about 16 months ago.”

Cllr Ferrin, who lives in Borden, said he wanted to cut the allowance but the idea had not been supported by colleagues.

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