Councillors give themselves 5% rise
A STORMY debate ended with county councillors voting to increase their allowances by an inflation-busting 5.3 per cent.
The recommendation to increase the amount given to members of Leicestershire County Council was made by an independent panel.
It suggested the pay boost, the first for members since 2009.
The panel was made up of former De Montfort University vicechancellor David Wilson, former council lawyer Jayne Kelly and former bursar of Loughborough University Micheal Pearson.
They proposed to raise the basic allowance from £10,152 a year to £10,691 with an automatic annual increase linked to staff pay.
The increase comes at a time when the council still needs to save £40 million from its spending and is cutting services.
Council leader Nick Rushton told yesterday’s meeting at County Hall the Tory group had made no input to the independent panel and offered a free vote to his 36 councillors on the issue.
He said: “Having said that you don’t get a report from the IRP and seek to pick it to pieces whether it says members get a rise or whether they get a reduction.
“It’s independent and it has to be done every four years.
“You cannot carry on with just old, white, retired men on this council.
“I can’t see any joiners, electricians or plumbers on this council but that is who we should be encouraging.
“If they come here and give up time and money the remuneration should reflect that so they are not disadvantaged.
“I know it’s a difficult one to give ourselves a rise, but in my view we haven’t given ourselves a rise - an independent panel has come up with recommendations.”
Lib Dem county councillor Michael Charlesworth questioned the figure used by the council that overall it would save £235,000 a year by scrapping other cabinet roles and other posts and committees.
He said: “That’s fine as part of the democratic process but it has absolutely nothing to do with members’ allowances.”
He prompted a furious response from the Tories by accusing them of influencing the panel.
Cllr Charlesworth said: “It appears Christmas has come early for the Conservative group.
“The wish list that was sent to the panel has been delivered in full.
“It seems to me the controlling group has engineered a process which has enriched them at the expense of council taxpayers.
“The leader has effectively greased the palms of nearly all 36 Tory members.
“Of course the Conservative group didn’t make any representation to the panel.
“They didn’t need to. They knew what the outcome would be.”
Cllr Rushton said: “When it comes to Mr Charlesworth, I did intend to answer some of his questions but I have never heard such an appalling speech in my life.
“To say it was engineered is slanderous, to say we have greased palms is slanderous. To question in public - and not apologise - independent people is absolutely appalling.”
He told Lib Dem Group leader Simon Galton: “I know he’s your deputy Simon but if I was you I would sack him.”
Cllr Charlesworth was asked by the council’s chairman to apologise but he declined.
Cllr Rushton has now lodged a formal complaint against the Lib Dem saying his comments bring the authority into disrepute.
Labour group leader Dr Terri Eynon said: “We do have reservations that we would like to put on record.
“We are unhappy that having taken the political kudos of freezing our own pay since 2009 we are now taking a cumulative percentage increase.
“There are members of our staff who will not understand this and will see it as not understanding their position of getting only one per cent.”
Tory councillor Iain Bentley said that since the election in May, more than half of Conservative councillors had not claimed travel expenses as they are entitled to.
Fellow Conservative councillor Ted Parton said: “The people who comprised the panel are highly respected, highly professional and skilled men and women.
“Every four years one has to have one’s name on a ballot paper and the public decide whether you have been worth the expenses you claim.”