I was interested to read that the allowances are limits and not automatically dished out. Receipts are needed so we the public can if we want keep an eye on which Councillor claims the maximum and which ones claim below it.
I think it is quite a good way of doing it. As I said before I worked at one place that had fixed allowances that you got if you were away for the night, lunch etc. The other place just required receipts and you were reimbursed later. We drank some beer that week, all with receipts of course
