More money? No thank you, say (most) councillors

Tories lead the way in vote against pay rise

Who would vote against giving themselves a pay rise?

The answer is members of the Conservative group on Maidstone Borough Council (MBC), which met last Wednesday to consider proposals from an Independent Remuneration Panel tasked with undertaking a fouryearly review of councillors’ allowances.

The panel suggested there should be increases across the board, with members’ basic payments rising by £172 to £5,237, with the special responsibility allowances for the chairmen of the larger council committees increasing by £157 to £8,000.

The proposals would have seen the leader’s allowance go up £398 to £20,002. In addition, the review suggested the creation of a new payment to the deputy leader of the council, currently Independent councillor Fay Gooch, who the panel recommended should be paid £4,000.

However, many members felt MBC should not be spending more money on themselves in times of austerity.

Cllr Daniel Rose (Con) said: “I am 25. I got married last year. “I took out a mortgage this year. I am probably in a more precarious financial position than most people in this chamber. “This money would be useful. But I did not get involved in politics for financial reasons and I don’t believe the taxpayers of Maidstone should be asked to fund this increase.”

Cllr Gooch said: “The level of our allowances would still be low compared with other councils, so I don’t have a conscience about it. “I work an awful lot of hours (for the council) and when I work it out my allowance equates to not even half, not even a quarter, of the national minimum wage.” Councillors voted by a majority of 24 to 20 to reject the proposals and to keep the allowances schedule unchanged.

The ballot was split largely on party lines, with all the Tory members present voting against the increases - apart from Cllr Patrick Garten who abstained. They were supported by Independent Maidstone councillor Eddie Powell. All the Lib Dem, Labour and Independent councillors present voted in favour of the increase, with the exception of Cllrs Emily Fermor and Michelle Hastie (both Lib Dem) who voted against.

‘I did not get into politics for financial reasons’