Rochford District Council gets some publicity on the front page of the Daily Mail today:
Thousands of local councillors have seen their allowances soar in the past five years, astonishing figures reveal.
The town hall payouts have risen by up to 150 per cent to a total cost of more than ?200million a year.
The statistics will intensify anger over spending cuts at local authorities. Many warn that they are being that they are being forced to close libraries, swimming pools and leisure centres to save money.
Rochford has had the biggest percentage increase in the UK – a 158 percent increase in 5 years
Terry Cutmore, Tory leader of Rochford in Essex, which has recorded the highest percentage increase in its spending on allowances, said the pay had been set, as elsewhere, by an ?independent remuneration committee?.
He said: ?They looked at the average for councils in Essex and they noted that our allowances were very much lower. We also moved to a cabinet system, and cabinet members have higher allowances.
?We have kept the allowances at the same level since 2009.
?I get more then anybody else because I am leader, but this is a full-time job. I retired from my job in 2004 at 52 to do this, and I can tell you I don?t get much social life.?
Full article is here.
FYI
As the RDC Portfolio Holder for Finance & Resources since May 2010, I thought you may appreciate the following three paragraphs received from the RDC Head of Finance in reply to my enquiry regarding the figures quoted and reference to a Member pension entitlement etc (also in the Daily Mail’s ‘Comment’ section). Those are regretably further demonstration in the Daily Mail article of Press preference for sensationalist headline rather than accuracy and objectivity. So any expectations anyone may have of super cars, private jets and motor yachts for RDC Members’ in office or in a pensionable retirement would be completely misplaced!
“The article was correct in that the Local Government Pension Scheme is open to elected members but it is only allowed on the recommendation of the independent Remuneration Panel which cannot be overriden by councillors so unfortunately you will have to forego any jam that a LGPS pension might have afforded!
The 158% increase in allowances is correct but, as has been pointed out to the Daily Mail, not only are the allowances not set by councillors but in 2004/5, the Council was at a far lower base than other authorities and, with the change to the Cabinet system, allowances were put to similar levels to other local authorities, and hence a bigger percentage increase.
I have no idea where the leisure figure came from – our total spend in 2009/10 on leisure, parks and play facilities was about £4.5m, including capital investment. The £199,000 was the published spend on Disabled Facilitites Grants. They have also quoted our entire spending budget as £11.3m, when it would be more accurate to use the gross expenditure figure plus capital, which was £40.5m. Taking into account the cash collected for council tax and business rates, our turnover is about £100m.”
Those figures and much lower percentages of budget resulting, put in perspective the relative costs of Member Allowances, which I believe remain around the lower end for all Authorities in Essex. I would add that suggesting the RDC spend on play and leisure facilities is just £447 p.a. (pounds not even thousands!!) should have been a gigantic warning to any Daily Mail editor, copy or proof reader of the article’s sloppy research. The reductions in Central Grant Settlement notified for the coming 3 years from DCLG caused RDC severe problems but thankfully nothing in our forced budget cutbacks is quite SO savage as that unbelievable pittance would imply. To the best of my knowledge there has never been any intent by the independent remuneration panel that RDC Members should have an LGPS pension entitlement (nor indeed would RDC ever have had, or likely ever will have, the ability to fund it were it advised by the truly independent panel).
regards
Cllr Colin Seagers