Durham councillor says authority owes him £430 in car mileage expenses

Chris Foote-Wood, Labour member for Barnard Castle, has waged a war on County Hall officials after claiming the council owes him for car mileage allowance for attending meetings.

He alleges the council is withholding the cash, owed for travel between May and July, because the car insurance documents he sent to County Hall were left in the council’s post room for more than two months.

Durham County Council said Cllr Foote-Wood did not have the correct insurance policy to cover business expenses for the two months. 

Elected to the county council in May, the Labour member said he attended several induction meetings for new and returning members. 

He added: “On my first day, I posted my car insurance documents first class addressed to the correct department, but they did not arrive at the right council office until the middle of July because the envelope sat on a shelf in the council’s post room for over two months before it was finally delivered as addressed.

“Unfortunately, nobody bothered to tell me my documents had not arrived at the right department until they turned up there over two months later. It was a case of no insurance, no pay.”

Despite the delayed delivery, Cllr Foote-Wood insists he is not at fault and has made a formal complaint to the local authority. 

“It was no fault of mine,” he said. 

“I should not be made to pay for the council’s own incompetence. The council has refused to make even an ex gratia payment to cover my loss, which I can ill afford. The only action available to me is to make this formal complaint for financial loss and maladministration.”

Cllr Foote-Wood has been a local councillor in County Durham for over 40 years. Formerly a Bishop Auckland councillor and leader of Wear Valley district council, he is now a Barnard Castle town and county councillor.

Durham County Council disputed the councillor’s claims and said all new members were told to bring documents, including car insurance information, with them to the induction sessions following the May local elections. 

Helen Bradley, director of legal and democratic services, said: “The Members Allowance Scheme makes clear that all members must make sure their car is insured for business use. If business cover is not included on an insurance certificate, we are unable to pay expenses.

“Unfortunately, the insurance certificate first provided by Cllr Foote-Wood did not have the correct level of cover in place. An updated insurance certificate, dated July 8, has been provided and all claims made by Cllr Foote-Wood after this date have been paid.”

“All prospective candidates were asked to bring several documents, including proof of car insurance, to one of the pre-arranged induction sessions for new members on May 9 and 10. We asked that these were brought in during the session to ensure that no personal documents went missing in the post.”