Cleveland Police Authority today published details of the allowance paid to its members in the past financial year together with the level of expenses claimed.

The total amount of allowances claimed by members for the financial year 2001-02 including payments for representing the authority at meetings of the National Association of Police Authorities was £86,440 compared to £81,513 the previous year.

Expenses claimed totalled £11,561 compared to £10,888 in the previous year.

Under current Home Office rules members of police authorities are allowed to claim £17 an hour in allowances - with the annual maximum set at £7,500 for members and £11,250 for the chairman.

Although the authorities have the freedom to set their own allowance levels Cleveland Police Authority decided that, for the time being, it would stick with levels as they are at present.

Chairman councillor Ken Walker said: "I think it is important to stress that, whilst there is no legal requirement on police authorities to publish this information, members of the authority have for some years voluntarily agreed to make the figures public because we are committed to being as open as possible with the people we serve.

"It is also worth pointing out that, as an authority, we are responsible for a budget approaching £100m which means the total of allowances claimed by all members represents less than a tenth of one per cent of the budget."

The amounts paid to members during the year, including those payments relating to representation at meetings of the National Association of Police Authorities, include; coun Walker an allowance of £11,552 and expenses of £1,081, Russell Hart an allowance of £7,093 and expenses of £1,463 and councillor Dave McLuckie an allowance of £4241 and expenses of £1,023.