Councillor payments top £750,000

Councillors in the Borders received more than £750,000 in salaries and expenses in the last financial year.
The figures for 2008/09 fell compared with the previous 12-month period during which a one-off payment of £120,000 went to retiring councillors.
When that sum is removed from the comparison the overall costs have shown an increase of about 7.8%.
Scottish Borders Council has 34 elected members who each received on average about £22,000.

The biggest total – £32,966 – was paid to council leader David Parker.
At the opposite end of the scale was councillor Fiona Lackenby who received about half that amount.