{"id":945,"date":"2007-12-09T14:47:26","date_gmt":"2007-12-09T14:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/?p=945"},"modified":"2007-12-09T14:51:20","modified_gmt":"2007-12-09T14:51:20","slug":"goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a report just about to come out from a government quango, the Councillors Commission <\/a><\/p>\n

It’s trying to promote ways of boosting local democracy and encouraging people to stand as councillors.<\/p>\n

According to the Telegraph<\/a> Guardian<\/a> , the Observer<\/a> and Liberal Democrat Voice <\/a> (where some of these ideas are described as ‘barking’), their proposals include:<\/p>\n

  • Having ‘redundancy payments’ for unpopular senior councillors voted out by the electorate.<\/li>\n
  • Big boosts in pay and perks for councillors in a bid to encourage people to participate in local democracy. (at the moment ordinary councillors in our District get just over ?4,000 per year) <\/li>\n
  • Councillors having a “communications allowance” to fund public relations material. (At the moment we pay for things like Focus leaflets and indeed onlinefocus ourselves)<\/li>\n
  • freeing councillors from the requirement to turn up at meetings.<\/li>\n
  • \nCouncillors being barred from serving more than 5 terms – that would end Chris Black’s career as he’s already completed more than 5 terms!<\/li>\n
  • a reduction in the voting age to 16<\/li>\n
  • a lottery connecting with voting, so just by going to vote you could win a million!<\/li>\n
  • council by-elections would be axed (and instead any vacancies filled from a list of names) So an unpopular ruling party could never lose seats at a by-election.<\/li>\n

    There’s no signs yet that the government is going to actually implement any <\/em> of these ideas – perhaps the likeliest is on ‘voting at 16′. But we’d be interested to know our readers’ views on this. Would a higher councillors allowance make you more interested in standing,? If so, how high would it need to be? If someone has been a councillor for 20 years, should they be barred from standing again? Should the voting age be 16?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There’s a report just about to come out from a government quango, the Councillors Commission It’s trying to promote ways of boosting local democracy and encouraging people to stand as councillors. According to the Telegraph Guardian , the Observer and Liberal Democrat Voice (where some of these ideas are described as ‘barking’), their proposals include: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else? - onlineFOCUS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else? - onlineFOCUS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There’s a report just about to come out from a government quango, the Councillors Commission It’s trying to promote ways of boosting local democracy and encouraging people to stand as councillors. According to the Telegraph Guardian , the Observer and Liberal Democrat Voice (where some of these ideas are described as ‘barking’), their proposals include: […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"onlineFOCUS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rayleighlibdems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-12-09T14:47:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2007-12-09T14:51:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5efa4ae50eba03fbb35a72481d3282\"},\"headline\":\"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else?\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-12-09T14:47:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-12-09T14:51:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\"},\"wordCount\":289,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Local Democracy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\",\"name\":\"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else? - onlineFOCUS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-12-09T14:47:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-12-09T14:51:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/\",\"name\":\"onlineFOCUS\",\"description\":\"News and Stuff for Rochford District From Your Local Liberal Democrats - since 2003.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"onlineFOCUS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/libdem260.gif?fit=260%2C204&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/libdem260.gif?fit=260%2C204&ssl=1\",\"width\":260,\"height\":204,\"caption\":\"onlineFOCUS\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rayleighlibdems\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5efa4ae50eba03fbb35a72481d3282\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/686f395a29c64aae72a758d25879524e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/686f395a29c64aae72a758d25879524e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else? - onlineFOCUS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else? - onlineFOCUS","og_description":"There’s a report just about to come out from a government quango, the Councillors Commission It’s trying to promote ways of boosting local democracy and encouraging people to stand as councillors. According to the Telegraph Guardian , the Observer and Liberal Democrat Voice (where some of these ideas are described as ‘barking’), their proposals include: […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/","og_site_name":"onlineFOCUS","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rayleighlibdems","article_published_time":"2007-12-09T14:47:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2007-12-09T14:51:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5efa4ae50eba03fbb35a72481d3282"},"headline":"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else?","datePublished":"2007-12-09T14:47:26+00:00","dateModified":"2007-12-09T14:51:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/"},"wordCount":289,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Local Democracy"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/","url":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/","name":"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else? - onlineFOCUS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-12-09T14:47:26+00:00","dateModified":"2007-12-09T14:51:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/goodbye-councillor-black-and-more-money-for-everyone-else\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Goodbye Councillor Black? And More Money For Everyone Else?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/","name":"onlineFOCUS","description":"News and Stuff for Rochford District From Your Local Liberal Democrats - since 2003.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#organization","name":"onlineFOCUS","url":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/libdem260.gif?fit=260%2C204&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/libdem260.gif?fit=260%2C204&ssl=1","width":260,"height":204,"caption":"onlineFOCUS"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rayleighlibdems"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5efa4ae50eba03fbb35a72481d3282","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/686f395a29c64aae72a758d25879524e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/686f395a29c64aae72a758d25879524e?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/"]}]}},"modified_by":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlinefocus.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}