Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
ALL ABOARD!
‘Next time you wonder why a local service is being cut, just think of the amount this rise is costing the people of Kent’
Councillors have been accused of stitching up taxpayers for failing to discuss giving themselves a 15% pay rise ahead of the county elections.
All seven Conservatives in the Canterbury district were among the 48 members who agreed to a 15% pay hike, which will boost the pay of some by more than £500 a month.
In doing so they ignored an independent panel which recommended a rise of just 1.5%, making Kent County Council (KCC) one of the most generous authorities in the country when it comes to councillors’ pay.
Nine Tories across the county saw fit to abstain from the vote, but every member in Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable supported the rise.
When pressed by this paper to explain their thinking, some councillors defended their actions, but one – Herne and Sturry’s Alan Marsh – hung up the phone when quizzed by our reporter.
The vote – taken two months after the county council elections on May 4 – will see members enjoy a £1,920 increase in their annual allowance to £14,725 – the equivalent of £160 a month.
But three councillors from the Canterbury district – John Simmonds, Graham Gibbens and Mark Dance – will also receive an extra £4,105 a year for being cabinet members, bringing their annual pay bump to £6,025.
It comes in a year when KCC raised its portion of the council tax by 4% and amid controversy over a 1% public sector pay cap.
Newly elected Canterbury South Lib Dem councillor Ida Linfield branded the decision “unacceptable”.
“Next time you bump over a pothole or wonder why the verges are overgrown, or why a local service is being cut, just think of the amount that this rise is costing the people of Kent,” she said.
“For the Tories to vote for this at the beginning of a fouryear session means that the electors had no chance to give their opinion on it.
“I’m sure they would have done if it had been discussed before the election.”
Mrs Linfield and Faversham Lib Dem Anthony Hook were among 13 councillors who voted against the increase.
He said: “It was in principal the wrong thing to do. They didn’t want to deal with it six months ago before the election.”
Lib Dem group leader Rob Bird added: “Whatever the arguments are for increasing allowances, this should have been undertaken before the recent elections not just after.
“Members put themselves forward for election in May, knowing what the allowances they could expect and many councillors had previously stated the existing allowance levels were appropriate.”
KCC leader Paul Carter – whose pay will rise by more than £8,000 to £63,150 – has defended the decision, which was made at County Hall in Maidstone last Thursday.
He argues it brings members’ pay in line with those in the public sector.
“Councillors have been extremely restrained over the last eight years, having frozen their allowances since 2008, and indeed also taken a significant voluntary reduction,” he said.
“This has saved the authority in the region of £1.5 million over the last eight years.
“The award is still significantly below the national average pay increase and below the staff budget increases for KCC staff.”
The Taxpayers’ Alliance has also waded into the controversy.
Its grassroots campaign manager James Price said: “Taxpayers have every right to be angry at this huge above inflation rise.
“Despite KCC pleading poverty and raising council tax this year, it has somehow found this extra money down the back of the sofa – against independent advice – to line their own pockets.”
And GMB southern secretary Paul Moloney said: “These councillors should forego this increase until such time they are in a position to deal fairly with their own staff who are facing high levels of inflation and difficulties in paying their bills.”