NORTH Yorkshire councillors have been urged to open up their expense accounts when they meet on Monday.

The new standards committee of the authority will be asked to decide whether travelling and subsistence expenses should be published after the full council accepted the recommendation of an independent panel in July.

The meeting comes only a few months after Robert Heseltine, a former county councillor and chairman of the Yorkshire Dales national park authority, was convicted of fraud related to allowances and expenses claimed from the bodies on which he served.

An initial report on members' finances by consultants PriceWaterhouse Cooper was reviewed by the panel, which advised the council to reverse its policy of keeping secret the expenses paid to members.

The panel called on the standards committee to consider, and the council to favour, publishing such information and said: "We have received representations against such a move on the grounds that the distances involved in North Yorkshire are so varied that any publication of such expenses would be bound to create a misleading impression.

"On the other hand, we consider the principle of transparency to be a strong one, and it has also been put to us that any misleading impression could be counter-balanced by making clear at the time of publication the responsibilities and geographic representation of different members.

The panel included Mr Clive Leach, chairman of Yorkshire Enterprise, and Mr Roland Harris, chief executive of York and North Yorkshire chamber of commerce.

Publication of members' allowances, which cover attendance at meetings, everyday expenditure and special responsibilities, is a requirement but that of expenses is voluntary. These include the costs of travelling to meetings by personal or public transport, meals, accommodation and other incidentals. The Yorkshire Dales national park authority publishes both lists every year.

Mr Jeremy Walker, chief executive of the county council, makes no recommendation on expenses to the standards committee on Monday. He says, however, that members will want to weigh their arguments carefully and take account of the decision by the full council to accept the recommendations of the independent panel.

He adds that if the committee, on balance, favours publication it will need to consider in which financial year this should take place. Revised arrangements for members' allowances took effect on September 1 in line with new political structures.

But the committee has been urged to be accountable by two local councillors who have already said that, irrespective of any council ruling, they would publish their own expenses each year.

Coun John Blackie, of Hawes, said: "This is public money and the public have a right to know how it is being spent."

Coun Mike Childs, of Leyburn, said: "The sooner we declare that we all have nothing to hide the sooner we will be able to build up public confidence which has been dented by councillors in other authorities being subjected to court action and in some cases imprisonment over matters relating to their own expenses."

In 1999-2000 Coun Blackie claimed £2,488.01 in expenses from the county council and Coun Childs, £232.05