A COUNCILLOR who told the public his wife did not bill the taxpayer for childcare expenses while at their French holiday home was not telling the truth, The Argus can today reveal.

When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, Cllr Alex Phillips, along with her husband joint finance lead Tom Druitt, were at their countryside holiday home in France and attended virtual council meetings held via Zoom. 

Brighton and Hove City Councillors can claim for childcare expenses to allow them to attend meetings.

But Cllr Druitt previously told The Argus no claims were made to pay for someone to look after their child during their time in France, where they own a riverside holiday home equipped with a hot tub.

However, this newspaper can today reveal that this was not the case. In fact a Freedom of Information request made by The Argus showed how Cllr Phillips made six claims for childcare expenses covering that time.

The expenses document also revealed that more than a quarter of money (28.62 per cent) claimed by Cllr Phillips for council meetings in the last financial year, covering time while in England and France, was for times when meetings had already finished or were yet to start.

This comes as the council’s audit chief has contacted the legal department stating that there were “some questions raised about the ability of the councillor(s) to have undertaken sufficient approved duties to have amassed the claims made”.

Childcare claims in France

Cllr Druitt told The Argus last year that “there were no claims for anything” while the couple spent four months in France. He said they had determined it was the safest place to be after Covid cases surged and restrictions implemented while they were on a holiday to the Alps in March 2020.

The couple then stayed at their 19th Century holiday home in the Limousin region of France, which is sometimes rented out by Cllr Druitt for holidaymakers on Airbnb. It is next to the river, has a hot tub and costs up to £124 a night at some parts of the year. The pair also list an Alpine apartment in a village roughly ten miles from the Swiss border. They returned to the UK in July.

In April 2020, Cllr Phillips made a claim for childcare for a council meeting.

Cllr Phillips claimed £18 for childcare between 3pm and 6pm for a meeting of full council on April 23.

She also made five childcare claims for her mayoral duty while in the country, costing taxpayers £121.50. One of these claims, from March 20, 2020, took place after France had entered a national lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Details of expense claims

Residents contacted council chiefs calling for a probe into the claims made by Cllr Phillips during the coronavirus crisis.

The Friends of Brighton and Hove Citizens’ Action Group questioned whether the councillor for Regency ward had spent enough time in meetings to claim the amount revealed in council records.

The audit chief, Cllr Dan Yates, has now called for a review into the expenses.

In total Cllr Phillips claimed £607.50 for 14 council meetings held from December 2019 to late January 2021, but £173.85 was claimed for time before and after meetings had taken place

The council’s constitution says councillors can make claims for the council’s Dependent Carer Allowance for attendance at council meetings and for council duties up to a maximum of £9 per hour for each child. 

A total of one hour of travelling time can be added to the claim where applicable to allow the councillor to travel to and from meetings, provided the child remains with the carer for the duration.

Childcare claims made by Cllr Phillips frequently began an hour or longer prior to the start of council meetings, but almost all meetings in question took place virtually. One did take place in person. 

In one instance, a meeting of full council on December 19, 2019, Cllr Phillips made a claim for childcare starting from 2pm until 6pm, despite the meeting starting at 4.30pm, two and a half hours later - costing taxpayers £15. This meeting took place at Hove Town Hall. 

A second claim for childcare from that meeting was made from 6pm to 11pm. However, The Argus found that the council meeting ended at around 8.40pm - more than two hours earlier.

A claim was made for three and a half hours of childcare for a joint housing and policy and resources committee in October 2020. It was made for a time when a meeting had already ended.

Cllr Phillips claimed £18 for childcare from 3pm to 6pm and a further £31.50 from 6pm to 9.30pm for the meeting on October 21, 2020. However, The Argus discovered that meeting started at 3pm and ended at 4.50pm, over an hour earlier than the start of her second childcare claim for that meeting.

In January 2021, Cllr Phillips made a claim for five hours of childcare for a reconvened council meeting, from 3pm to 8pm. However, that meeting held on January 22 started at 4pm and - based on a webcast of the meeting, ended around an hour and 40 minutes later, meaning three hours and 20 minutes of the councillor’s claim covered a time when no meeting was taking place.

More than £1,400 claimed for childcare

Cllr Phillips claimed £1,458 for childcare for the financial year ending April 2021, covering a time when council meetings were being held virtually due to the pandemic.

The bill was almost five times the total of all other councillors’ expenses combined, excluding subsidised parking and bus passes.

The Argus contacted both Cllr Phillips and Cllr Druitt for comment on all of the claims made for council meetings in the 2020/2021 financial year, as well as all claims Cllr Phillips made while the couple were in France. They have not responded.