It’s time to reduce the number of councillors Living in fear over changes to benefits
I READ the article concerning Coventry councillors costing £1 million per annum (Aug 9).
The article referred only to the allowances and expenses claimed by these individuals. I believe the true figure is more likely to be higher, if you take into account the staff that are employed by Coventry City Council to specifically assist the councillors, the time that officers of the council spend answering councillor questions and completing bodies of work for these councillors, and the training that Coventry City Council provides to each of the councillors, to name but a very few examples.
Many of your readers will agree, the majority of councillors are only seen when they need to be elected. Many do not even answer emails or letters.
In these times of austerity, it seems the only group not to suffer any savings are the councillors. Coventry has 54 of them, the same number as the period prior to the financial breakdown – which was caused by politicians and their inability to understand and take action over the banks.
At national level we have 650 MPs, soon to be reduced to 600 (some say this figure could easily be reduced to 300).
Yet Coventry, and many cities like Coventry, have an abundance of political representatives. Coventry could easily survive and ultimately thrive if there was a reduction in the number of councillors to 33 (my preferred number would actually be one councillor per ward - that would be 18 for Coventry). Imagine the savings that could be made. Imagine, if this was repeated nationwide, how much money would be saved.
Unfortunately, councillors of all political persuasion will say that a reduction in the number of councillors would impact on the people’s right to representation. This is rubbish if you consider those councillors who do not attend meetings. They are certainly - with very few exceptions – conspicuous by their absence to the electorate. David Hearne Wolston AS co-ordinator of the Coventry and District Group of the MS Society, I am extremely concerned about cuts to disability benefits as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
We are dreading facing the assessment for PIP and the possibility of losing financial support. This will not only hit us hard personally, we also fear this could affect our group’s ability to continue operating.
With around 700 people living with MS around Coventry, we provide vital services and support to people affected by this challenging and unpredictable condition.
Many people with multiple sclerosis rely on disability benefits to live independently and take part in the community.
Two of our five committee members have motability cars thanks to DLA.
These cars are crucial in helping us run the group and get out to isolated people who have asked for our support.
But we are hearing more and more stories of people losing their cars as PIP is rolled out.
The MS Society believes by the time PIP completely replaces DLA, up to 10,000 people with MS across the UK could lose out.
Living with MS is hard enough; it shouldn’t be made harder by a welfare system that doesn’t make sense.
We are calling on the government to make sure people with MS can rely on support when they need it, without the constant fear of having it taken away. Ian Keenan MS Society Coventry & District Group co-ordinator