Weymouth Town Council will be backing calls for town councillors to be given dependants’ care expenses.

In England, there is an inequality in local government – borough, district, county and unitary councillors can claim expenses to support the cost of childcare or care for a relative or someone they live with, while they’re taking part in council duties.

However, town and parish councillors cannot.

Town clerk Jane Biscombe said: “A few members have asked me if possible for the town council to bring in an

additional scheme of allowances to support those councillors who have dependence – either to support the cost

of childcare or care for a relative or someone they live with.

“At the moment, under current legislation, parish and town councils in England only are not permitted to pay a specific dependence care expenses and they’re expected to come out of a general members allowance.

“In Wales this is not the case, town and parish councils can pay dependence care expenses and in England boroughs, districts, counties and unitaries can also pay, so there’s a particularly an area of inequality for town and parish councils in England on this subject.

“NALC and the DAPTC and the society of local council clerks and a lot of individual town and parish councils across the country are campaigning to get this inequality changed.

“The information before you and the recommendation is that councillors agree to support the efforts of

NALC and other bodies calling for a change in legislation to allow these payments to be made and if members were to agree to this I would be writing to the chairman of NALC the chairman of the DAPTC.”

The town clerk said that she would be writing to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding the inequality placed on town councillors.

She added: “Whoever is in place of James Brokenshire, I’ll be writing to him as well on behalf of the council to ask them to renew their efforts and get this inequality changed.”