Cllr Paul Robinson publishes his expenses

MPs fought tooth and nail to prevent their expenses being revealed. Now we can see why. Many of our elected representatives have been milking the taxpayer for years. Now they apologise because they have been caught out and desperately want to keep their jobs at the next general election.

As a result of the MPs' expenses revelations the BBC decided to come clean and publish the expenses of its senior executives. Many of those expenses were questionable, but at least the BBC has come clean without being forced to do so.

East Riding of Yorkshire Councillor Paul Robinson believes in transparency in local government and last month published his expenses claims for the last financial year. He is right in doing so and I wish there were many more like him. Now his constituents can decide whether he is good value for money and they now see how he spends their money.

I ask all councillors to follow Cllr Robinson's lead. We need more transparency. Come on councillors, let the light in.

Action Day - 11 July

Come and join us for an action day in Beverley on 11 July. We will be door-to-door leafleting for around one and a half hours and then meeting up for a chat afterwards in a suitable hostelry. If you are free, we would love to see you. E-mail me for more details.

FOI Request

I have received a reply back from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Just the usual. They will get back to me by 22 July - the standard 20 working days time limit for FOI requests. I will keep you informed when the information arrives.

Car Parking Charges in the East Riding

When the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) set-up a review panel into car parking charges, you didn't have to be a genius to work out that recommending car parking charges in car parks that are currently free, was not going to be popular.

Still the council went on, despite widespread public anger at the charges. ERYC then held roadshows, getting feedback from the public. Surprise, surprise; the vast majority were against charges being introduced.

This scheme is a dead duck. I know that, you know that and so does the council, but they are still going to plough on and sift through all the questionnaires, log the results and the review group will meet a few more times before they give in to the inevitable.

Today, I have issued a Freedom of Information request to ERYC. I have asked them to inform me of the total cost to date of this review panel, including all the administrative costs and expenses. It will be fascinating to read their reply.

NEW Hull and East Riding Branch

The Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire Branch of the Taxpayers' Alliance was launched on Saturday 13 June. We held a very successful action day in Beverley, finding much support from local people.

Here you will be able to find out what we are up to and how you can get involved. If you want more information, please e-mail me on the address in the sidebar.