Members Allowances

Well after a year of scandal over MPs pay and allowances it seems the issue will not go away. On the agenda for next weeks full council meeting is the thorny issue of Members Allowances.

Being a Cornwall Councillor is meant to be a voluntary part time role of public service – however, you are paid an allowance so that no one is ‘out of pocket’ for the costs of the role or for having to give up other paid work.

As someone who was completely new to all this last June when I got elected, I can honestly say I hardly gave a thought to being paid for it. In fact it wasn’t until our induction that I even discovered how much the allowance was! Now I don’t want to give the wrong impression, I am in a very privileged position in that my business provides me with a reasonable living and I have the flexibility to not have to be at work all the time. Having said that due to the recession my income has dropped dramatically and the extra money had certainly come in handy. But the bottom line is very few councillors do it for the money. The current basic allowance is £11,976 (less tax), out of which we have to cover all the costs of doing the job, telephone calls, stationery, travel around the ward etc (we can claim for travel to council meetings – although currently personally I have decided not to claim for this) with extra responsibility payments paid for cabinet members and chairs of committees etc.

When you look at the level of responsibility we now have – running one of the biggest councils in the country, and responsibility for everything from education to the environment, social care to highways (for instance I am now responsible for everything that used to be covered by a Cornwall County Councillor and two Restormel Councillors) it doesn’t seem much, especially when compared to say MPs or even local government officers. Even in Cornwall where many people earn below the national average it seems very low.

Last year the outgoing council appointed an independent review panel to look at the level of allowance for the new council members. That panel has reported and I understand it is recommending an increase to £14,600 pa. This puts the councillors in a difficult position of having to vote ourselves a substantial pay increase.

There is no doubt in my mind that we are all worth it. Even though I disagree with some on political grounds, I am sure most councillors work hard for the good of their local community. For some I know this is their only real source of income and the extra money would come in very handy.  But the timing could not be worse. With the backdrop of the scandal of MPs allowances and in the middle of the worst recession for decades when many households are struggling and a public sector financially squeezed, it would just seem unjustifiable to award ourselves such an increase.

So what should we do? My main hope is that no-one turns this into a political issue and tries to gain some political points out of it. The Lib Dems tabled a motion last year to freeze the members allowances for the whole four years of this council. This was voted out, rightly in my view, as we should not tie ourselves up for that long when no one really knows what will happen this year let alone 4 years. But as they proposed that motion it would seem very difficult for them to try and vote for this increase now – but I have learnt with the Lib Dems, they are sometimes capable of some amazing political somersaults and will probably try and use it to divide people, so watch this space……

I for one will be voting against the increase proposed by the review panel. It remains to be seen what others will do and in the end I am happy for everyone to vote as they believe is right. But I really do hope we do not vote to award this increase – can you imagine the headlines!?

But the bigger question is, is this the right way of this matter being settled? In every other aspect of council business we have to declare if we have a vested interest and then abstain from debating or voting on the matter. Yet on the one issue that every council member has a massive self interest we are expected to debate and vote! Seems crazy to me. Surely it is time at all levels of government for pay and allowances to be decided by independent bodies and just awarded without us having to decide for ourselves.

So we will see what happens next Tuesday - it may be one to keep your head down for and let others play the political football!