ENTITLED TO GIVE OPINION

JAMIE Gordon attacks Councillor Sam

Corcoran, Cheshire East Council leader, (Macclesfield Express letters September 7) for having the temerity to write about national politics.

Given Coun Corcoran is a politician he is entirely justified to express his political opinion, just like everyone else.

Mr Gordon is entitled to disagree with Coun Corcoran’s politics but he makes factually incorrect claims about his salary and costs of a cabinet system no longer used.

Jamie states that the Labour leader’s salary is over £50,000.

He receives £40,722, made up of the standard councillor allowance of £12,351 and £28,371 for the added responsibility of being council leader.

Being leader of a council (one of the country’s largest unitary councils, not a ‘small corner of the country’) isn’t a ‘part time job’.

I’m sure Coun Corcoran puts in many more hours than a 37 hour week.

All the remuneration councillors receive can be viewed on the council website and last year councillors voted to freeze their allowances.

As for the comments about the cabinet, this system was abolished in May 2021.

The council now operates under a committee system to give more councillors input into important decisions following appalling mismanagement under the previous Tory administration.

Even under the cabinet system the costs were not as Jamie claims – in 2020/21 the total of additional responsibility allowances paid was £245,838.60.

Jamie is also wrong about salaries paid to senior officers in claiming that there are five officers and the chief executive paid more than the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister’s salary is £164,080.

In 2020/21 no officers received a salary above this.

In 2021/22 only one officer did.

It is also worth noting that the figures for senior remuneration are lower under the Labour-led administration than they were under the Conservative administration.

Coun Corcoran is grappling with many legacy problems from the previous Conservative administration.

However, I’m glad we now have a leader who is sincere and has a clear ethos of public service. Mary Brooks

Parkbrook Road, Macclesfield