THE council has apologised after failing to publish details of expenses for the last financial year.

Despite legislation requiring councils to publish information of councillors’ claims “as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of a year to which the scheme relates”, Brighton and Hove City Council had yet to upload the figures for 2021/2022 - almost half a year after the financial year came to an end.

After being contacted by The Argus, the council has since published the information.

A spokesman for the council said: “We apologise for the delay in uploading councillor expenses on the website.

“This is due to staffing issues and also checks to ensure the information is correct and up to date.”

In the year up until April 2022, councillors claimed a total of £302.50 in childcare expenses, with £171 claimed for travel and subsistence.

It comes a year after the council apologised for failing to upload several years’ worth of expenses updates to their website.

Following their publication, an investigation by The Argus found that Green Councillor Alex Phillips had claimed childcare for times when meetings had already finished or yet to start.

This prompted the council to launch an independent investigation, which found overpayments of up to £480, with a report finding that claims were not always submitted on time and an over-reliance on trust, rather than documentary proof.

Out of 74 childcare claims made between October 2019 and March 2021, Cllr Phillips was found to have overclaimed for 55 of them.

Cllr Phillips repaid £490 to the council and said at the time of the report’s publication: “I wish to apologise for the small number of claims I made which were not in line with the council expenses policy.

“I have already repaid these claims, which I did when allegations that I had been overpaid first came to my attention.

“I have co-operated with this independent investigation and accept its findings in full.

“It was never my intention to make claims which were not in line with the council’s policies and procedures.”

The council pledged to review its systems to make sure improvements are made after the review concluded that procedures should be tightened in regard to expenses paperwork being submitted correctly, on time and more thoroughly checked.