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Cash cuts should begin at home, Bucks councillors warned
Elected councillors must be prepared to slash their own allowances if they ever reduce wages for employees, an independent panel has ruled.
In a report presented to Bucks County Council chiefs, members were also told that their performance should be monitored ahead of future pay reviews.
It follows controversy after the council agreed 9.2 million of inyear
savings, but did not reduce the amount of money they are allowed to claim, sparking fury from trade unions.
The report – written by three founding members of the Bucks Economic Partnership – voiced fears that some councillors do not attend as many meetings as they should.
But councillors said they needed more information about the way their performance would be monitored before they could vote on the report.
At the moment, every elected member can claim 10,718 in allowances, while cabinet members receive an extra 20,172, and the leader can claim an additional 39,709.
Cllr Mike Colston, Conservative, said: "I think before I could accept the recommendation, I'd want to find out what the proper procedures are to monitor the performance of members."
And Cllr Michael Brand, Lib Dem, said: "Anything as simplistic as judging whether you attend isn't good enough.
"All 57 of us are guardians of democracy, if we don't call for action, no one will."
The report, by John Ingold, former finance director at GE Healthcare, Richard Benz, managing partner at Kidd Rapinet Solicitors in Aylesbury, and Alex Pratt, managing director of Sunalex, said: "The workload of
members had increased since the last review (in 2006), particularly
for cabinet members, spokesmen and members of overview and scrutiny.
"There was particular concern that some members did not attend as many meetings as they possibly could, but received the same basic allowance as members who were very active.
"The panel noted that 33 out of the 57 county councillors were also district councillors (twin hatters).
In some cases, poor performance might be exacerbated by twin hatters over extending their workloads."
But the panel ruled that the amount of cash councillors can claim is at the right level, stating:
"It was recognised that the council needed active, engaged and competent members.
"Demands on cabinet members, particularly, could be high and it was virtually a full time job.
"Also to attract young, able people an appropriate level of renumeration was required to match a full time job in the private
sector."
It said that on top of their regular allowances, many Conservative
councillors claim a Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) for acting as spokesmen on important issues.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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