A CAP has been put on the amount of taxpayers' money that city councillors can spend on posting mail after it emerged that the total had "risen considerably".
Derby City Council leader Labour's Ranjit Banwait said the move followed a period when there had been no budget for members' mail. The cap has been set at £350. Mr Banwait said: "Nothing has been done wrong by councillors but we've got to be responsible and consistent."
UKIP councillor Alan Graves said the cap was needed because councillors had been sending out "mass mail, using resources that could have been used elsewhere in the community".
There was previously a £500 cap on each councillors' postage but this was removed in 2010-11 when the council's postal budget was centralised so it was no longer possible to easily separate spending on members' mail from any other outgoing council mail.
The new system will require a separate log to be kept.
A report on the matter makes it clear that councillors now cannot use Royal Mail to "distribute standard letters on a large scale, sent to 'the resident'" or for "ward-wide mailing of surgery notices."
Accepted uses include welcome letters to those newly on the electoral register and street or small area consultations or surveys.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
