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11
Jan
Mayor publishes personal expenses claims for first time
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, has published his personal expenses claims for the first time.
Mr Skaith was elected mayor on May 3, 2024. However, since then, there was no record of his monthly expenses on the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority website.
By comparison, Jo Coles, the deputy mayor for policing, is legally required to publish her personal expenses.
The move comes after the Stray Ferret revealed a series of expenses claims made by the Labour mayor between May 2024 and January 2025, which were only disclosed following our investigation.
Now, Mr Skaith has published his expenses online — including claims between January 1, 2025, and July 31, 2025, which were not previously made public.
Expenses claims
According to the figures, the Labour mayor claimed a total of £1,704.91 in expenses for train travel, hotels and mileage.
Among the claims includes a claim for a one-night stay at a London hotel on May 22 to attend a meeting of the Mayoral Council and the Council of Nations and Regions.
The council, which was set up by Sir Keir Starmer in 2024, includes the Prime Minister, the first ministers of the three devolved administrations and the mayors of England’s combined authorities.
Meanwhile, Mr Skaith also claimed £94.50 for a one-night stay at a hotel in Manchester on June 23 to attend a housing conference.
The Labour mayor also made multiple claims on train tickets, including three separate return tickets at £24 and one ticket at £21.40 to Leeds to attend the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum between May 19 and May 22.
The move comes as Mr Skaith has previously admitted that the combined authority had “not been good enough” on transparency.
At a meeting of the authority’s overview and scrutiny meeting on December 18, 2025, he said:
I will hold our hands up and say that as a combined authority we have not been good enough on this [transparency].
We have made big changes recently to make sure we are more open and transparent, particularly on myself. I have also committed to my senior officers in the combined authority to be much more open and transparent on things like expenses, travelling and all the rest of it.
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