Black Country and Staffordshire councils accused over staff mileage payments

The TaxPayers' Alliance has published research which shows many councils have given employees more than the recommended 45p per mile for usage of their own vehicle for business.

The amount was set by HM Revenue and Customs five years ago.

The figures showed Wolverhampton council paid out 50.5p per mile for the financial year 2016/17, paying out £593,345.

In Cannock, council staff received 52.2p per mile, with £177,766 paid out last year, in Stafford they also got 52.2p a mile, £507,618 in total, and in South Staffordshire, 65p was paid for each mile, £61,908 in total.

Walsall Council paid out 65p mile up to April 1 last year, paying out £795,526 in the year 2016/17.

Dudley Council and Staffordshire County Council, meanwhile, paid out 45p per mile, paying £1.1m and £1.9m to its staff respectively.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Driving is extremely expensive in Britain thanks to sky-high rates of fuel duty and vehicle excise duty, but there's no excuse for councils to pay more than HMRC's approved rate for mileage.

"It's simply not credible for local authorities to plead poverty and raise council tax while paying over the odds for basic expenses, especially when the government has been telling them to rein in these payments for the past five years.

"Councils must continue to root out wasteful spending like this so that they can deliver tax cuts for hard-pressed residents."