Jul 2009 03

We're in the middle of a recession. Do councillors deserve a raise?11

According to This is Somerset, Councillors in North Somerset have generously voted to increase their own allowances by 30%; how thoughtful of them. The rest of the country is suffering through a severe recession, worried about keeping their jobs, and these people are giving themselves increases at their constituent’s expense.

Most employees are judged by their bosses. The question is asked: 'are you valuable to the company?' Are you contributing more or less than your fair share? The boss looks over the evidence and makes a decision based on whether or not they feels they can/wants to pay you more at the expense of the company. There is a reason for this system. If it was up to the individual to decide whether or not their expenses should be increased they would vote yes. But that isn’t the real world. Such schemes only exist in the Councillor’s fairy tale, where their actions go unchecked.

North Somerset is not the only Council to act so thoughtlessly. TaxPayers’ Alliance blogger Tim Aker wrote on Monday concerning the fact that the Councillors at both the Kent County Council and the Lancashire County Council also had the nerve to increase their own allowances. (Read More)

Worst of all, these Councillors think they can get away with it. And they’re right, they can get away with it as long as we say nothing.

If you’re as incensed as I am please write an email to the county leader of North Somerset,
[email protected].  Remember to be polite, but also remember that they do need to be held accountable or there will be no change.

 

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  • Steve Robson

    A bit unsure of the link. Did these Councillors cause the recession and therefore not deserve a raise.
    I thought the recession was caused by private sector bankers with similar views (and schools) to the TPA staff, therefore surely its the TPA staff who really don’t deserve a raise.
    Did you get a raise in your SECRET salary paid by your SECRET rich backers. Lets assume you did and send complaints to Ayn Rand or Milton Friedman at http://www.rightwingloonies.com.

  • Steve Robson

    I just noticed the fantastic coincidence (?) of your name. Are you a relation?

  • Putin

    I think the point is that there are many people deserving a raise which they will not get because of the economic conditions. They did not cause the recession either. They do not have the luxury of getting someone else to underwrite their pay rise without being asked to do so.

  • Nice Boy Nigel

    As a general rule, elected members do not receive particularly generous allowances. Personally, there is simply no way that I would be prepared to sacrifice the hours necessary to do the job for the allowances that many elected members receive. By and large, I suspect they do it because they give a damn about where they live and want to make a difference, rather than to make a fast buck.
    I will say again what I have said before, unless you are prepared to stand for election yourself, then you should stop posting vituperative nonsense on sites such as these.
    Therefore, to all those in the TPA who peddle this drivel, I suggest you all stand for election. Naturally, as you speak for everybody (rather than a narrow clique of Thatcherites) you will surely get elected.
    You can then experience the joys of getting rung at all hours of the day about such interesting topics as blocked drains, litter, anti-social behaviour and then having to address these issues in your limited free time (as quite of lot of elected members have jobs, due to the relatively low amount they receive in allowances).
    Any free time left after that – then you will have a library of council papers to read.
    Go on, Tory-Boy Timmy et al, put your hat in the ring and stand. One slight problem – you will find that if you do win, you will face levels of public accountability and transparency that you at the secretive TPA will not be used to).

  • Call me Dave

    The “world owes me a living” attitude is alive and well in the public sector. It’s only tax payers money after all – hell let’s make it a 50% rise.
    Council tax is just so affordable these days – mere pocket change for someone like me. I feel a little better knowing I’m doing my bit for local services to the tune of £2,500 per annum (after tax of course).
    I’m also doing my bit for the environment since the cooncil started fortnightly collections by driving my car to the dumps after week one when my bin is bursting at the seems.
    We should really consider monthly collections and give everyone in town hall an inflation busting rise.

  • Hope

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/5743419/Is-the-state-guilty-of-child-kidnap.html
    Kent County Council deserves to be dis-banded not given a raise, they all turning a blind eye to ‘forced adoption’even though they are fully aware.Maybe this is what is paying for their rise?

  • Steve Robson

    At least we know you have a very big house Call me Dave if you pay that much. You must be able to afford it, also demonstrated by the garbage you apparently generate, which requires weekly rubbish collections – not good for the Planet! You need to compost and recycle more.

  • Call me Dave

    Hi Steve, I wish! I’m just unfortunate enough to live in a council which has been Labour run since dinosaurs walked the earth. The end result is inordinately expensive council tax for the “rich” people in bands G & H compared to other councils.
    They have also not rebanded properties meaning a modest 3 bedroomed new build gets landed with a G banding.
    And yes the council is currently overspent.

  • Nick

    Councillors certainly contributed to the recession. Council tax reduce peoples disposable income and ability to spend.
    With all individuals cutting their spending and businesses slashing their overheads, councils should do likewise, so why does council tax continie to increase?

  • http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/westmidlands West Midlands Taxpayer

    Local authorities (& Brussels) have so much control over our daily lives. We need the kind of localism advocated by Hannan & Carswell in ‘The Plan: 12 months to renew Britain’ (see http://RenewBritain.com ).
    Councillors should be setting an example to hard pressed council taxpayers by taking a pay cut or, at the very least, accepting a pay freeze. ‘Call me Dave’ makes a very important point — your council tax is paid out of post-tax income which, thanks to Labour’s abolition of the 10p tax band & their increase in the top rate of income tax, is shrinking for everybody be they at the top or the bottom of the income scale.
    I hope that the information revolution that recently swept through Parliament will continue & make its way into local authorities which are full of waste, mismanagement of taxpayer funds & fat cats on huge salaries who retire early with gold-plated, guaranteed, taxpayer funded pensions.

  • http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/westmidlands West Midlands Taxpayer

    That should have been http://Renew-Britain.com