A Bradford councillor says politicians need a "serious conversation" about pay and expenses after members’ claims fell year on year.
Bradford councillors’ total expense claims fell from £3,030.61 in 2022-23 to £2,335.14 in 2023-24, £1,161.62 in 2024-25 and £615.11 for tax year 2025-26, council records show.
The sums are modest and mostly cover travel for council duties.
Councillor Matt Edwards, (Holme Wood and Bierley, Green Party), said he could not afford the role without claiming legitimate travel expenses.
(Image: Green Party)
"To be brutally honest, I couldn't afford to do my work as a councillor without claiming travel costs," he said.
He said people often wrongly believed councillors were paid like MPs.
"Councillors don't get a salary. I think people often mix up what we receive with the far larger amounts paid to MPs, who get a full-time salary and money to employ staff."
What are councillors paid?
Councillors receive a basic annual allowance of £13,463, with additional special responsibility allowances paid to members holding senior positions such as cabinet members, committee chairs and group leaders.
The council leader receives the highest level of remuneration, taking total annual payments to more than £50,000.
Councillor expenses are reimbursements for costs incurred while carrying out council duties, including items such as mileage, rail travel, parking charges and other public transport costs.
Only a handful of councillors claimed expenses during 2025-26.
Cllr Edwards recorded the highest total, claiming around £420 in mostly travel-related costs, followed by Councillor Celia Hickson (Holme Wood and Bierley, Green Party) with approximately £195.
(Image: T&A)
Most councillors claimed nothing at all.
Despite being the council's highest expenses claimant in 2025-26, Cllr Edwards received £16,847.81 in total allowances, well below the total sums received by Bradford Council's senior leadership.
Cllr Edwards said: "We get a fairly basic allowance, and even once you take into account special responsibility allowances, I am still one of the lower paid councillors in Bradford."
The latest expense figures are almost 80 per cent lower than three years ago, with claims averaging less than £7 per councillor among Bradford’s 90 elected members.
The fall was driven largely by mileage claims dropping from more than £2,300 in 2022-23 to £255 in 2025-26.
'I did not go into local government to make money'
Cllr Edwards said he continued to work part-time alongside his council duties and had not entered politics for financial reasons.
"I did not go into local government to make money," he said.
"I gave up a successful career in banking, and I still have a part-time job on top of my work as a councillor to be able to pay the bills.
"The reason I do all of this is to serve the area I care deeply about."
He said he could not speak for other councillors but suggested some members may not reclaim costs from council work.
"I suspect some don't claim because this information is publicly available - as it should be - so they end up paying out of their own pocket.
"That only works for people who have money to spare."
(Image: T&A)
He said the trend raised wider questions about who can afford to hold elected office.
"If we want good people to stand for our communities, we need a serious conversation about councillors' pay," he said.
"It is a huge time commitment. Until last year we weren't even able to join a pension scheme, which puts off many working-age people."
'Increasingly toxic' place to work
Cllr Edwards warned that increasingly hostile public debate could drive people out of local government.
"It is also becoming an increasingly toxic and unpleasant place to work," he said.
"I am regularly asking myself whether I want to keep doing this. If I am thinking that, I know others are too, and that should worry anyone who cares about local democracy."
A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "There have been no changes to the Members' Allowance Scheme as detailed in the constitution regarding expenses during this period."
The council did not offer an explanation for the continued decline in expense claims.