Yorkshire Evening Post: Anger over Leeds City councillors’ pension payments deal
The Taxpayers Alliance, a spending watchdog and pressure group, wants changes to the local government scheme and is also calling for action to “tackle the growing trend of councillors joining.”
Figures released by the alliance show that in 2007-08 3,527 councillors were members and this had risen to 4,548 by 2010-11. An average of 11 councillors per authority were paying in to the scheme.
Robert Oxley, TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign manager, said: “The increase in the number councillors enrolling themselves on the local government pension scheme represents a rise in the number of professional politicians. Councillors receive allowances not a salary, the increase in those claiming a pension moves away from the traditional idea that councillors are citizens doing their civic duty.”
