Monmouthshire County Council has published its Members' Salaries for the year 2010-11.
Figures show ward councillors claimed around £13,000 in Basic Allowance, with some members claiming up to a further £13,000 for Special Responsibility Allowances.
The leader of the council, currently Portskewett Cllr, Peter Fox, claimed over £44,000 in a combination of entitlements for allowances and expenses.
Cllr Fox, collected £32,360 for his role as leader, on top of his £13,029 basic allowance. He also claimed a further £3,522 for travel expenses.
Cabinet members were paid over £30,000 for their roles, with Devauden Cllr Bob Greenland claiming £30,592 and Wyesham Cllr Liz Hacket-Pain claiming £33,447 including dependants allowance of £2,169.
Cllr Pain also claimed the highest figure on travel expenses of all the members, claiming over £4,000 in travel costs.
Caldicot Cllr John Marshall, and Mathern Cllr Graham Down, took little over their basic allowances, claiming nothing for travel expenses throughout the year.
Overall, allowances of £816,668 were paid across all of the 43 county councillors.
Cllr Fox said: "Being a councillor requires a huge amount of time. That obviously impacts on your ability to hold a full time job. So it's only right that members receive an annual allowance, which is now recognised as a basic salary, to reflect that. I'm pleased to see that most of our members claimed less than the IRP recommended maximum. And that includes members of all parties who claimed special responsibility allowances. "
A spokesman for MCC said: " The majority of members have not accepted any increase in their basic or special responsibility allowances since Dec 2008, despite a recommendation by the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) in 2010 that the maximum payable for each should rise. The council accepted this recommendation, but most mmembers chose not to accept the new allowance rate."
Councillors' expenses 2010-2011
Click on the links to see councillors' expenses in detail for each authority.
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