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Are councillors set for expenses hike?

Douglas councillors are backing a 33 per cent rise in the allowance they get for attending meetings.

On Wednesday, the council will discuss an executive committee recommendation to pay members £40 per meeting.

The council is responding to a consultation document issued by the Department of Infrastructure about how much local authority members can claim for meetings and travel.

Councillors also look set to back moves to bring their travelling expenses in line with Tynwald members.

The executive committee says it would like to see mileage expenses go up by 2p per mile and meeting allowances rise from £30 to £40.

In its conclusions, the committee also says there’d be no upper limit on the number of meetings that could be claimed for – and any future rise should be back-dated to the start of this month.

Malew and Onchan commissioners have already turned down rises, but the council says it operates very differently to other local authorities.

The council will now write to the Department of Infrastructure with its recommendations.

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