Some 1,193 applications for gratuities under the local authority members (gratuity) scheme, 1998, were received by local authorities in respect of eligible persons. This figure includes 155 applications in respect of dual members, that is, people who held membership of a county council and an urban town authority, and 70 in respect of former members who had retired or died since the previous local elections.
The number of persons who qualified for the gratuity was 487. The total cost of the scheme was £5.23 million.
No specific amount of money was set aside to finance the scheme. It was not possible to estimate what the scheme would cost in the immediate aftermath of the closing date for applications since most of those members who applied had not decided whether they would retire at the June 1999 local elections or not. Had all those who applied actually qualified for gratuities the total cost would have been in the region of £11.3 million.