Councillors refuse to reverse allowance increase
Cries of 'shame ' as council votes against reversing decision to increase expenses by 16.5%
CONSERVATIVE councillors have sparked outrage by unanimously voting against reversing a controversial decision to increase their basic allowances.
Last year, weeks after celebrating a 48-4 majority win at the local elections, the Tory group voted through a recommendation by the Independent Renumeration Panel which saw its members allowances jump from £6,186 to £7,324 a year.
The council has repeatedly defended the decision, saying that even after the rise, it still receives the second lowest basic allowance in Berkshire and one of the lowest basic allowances among unitary authorities across the South East.
But with the cash-strapped authority having to make an unprecedented £17.5m of savings next year – the highest in its 18-year history – there were calls for councillors to ‘share the pain’ and ‘do the right thing’ prior to Tuesday’s budget meeting.
The local government UNISON described the allowance increase as “insensitive”.
Opposition leader Alan Macro (Lib Dem, Theale) put forward a motion, requesting that councillors ‘do their bit to help’ by reversing the decision.
Mr Macro said it would save the council £50,000-a-year going forward – which he claims would be enough to save at least one public service from being cut.
But those pleas fell on deaf ears as all 42 Conservative councillors in attendance voted against it.
It led to cries of ‘shame on you’ from a packed public gallery, with people shaking their heads in disbelief.
During the debate, Conservative councillor James Fredrickson defended the rise and said: “It ensures that our democratic process is accessible to everyone, even the most marginalised.
“We want our allowances to mean anyone in the country who wants to become a councillor can become involved in the process.”
He also pointed out that West Berkshire Council’s allowances are £1,000 lower than the Labour-led Reading Borough Council and accused Mr Macro of “spinning” things in order to create a “snazzy headline in the Newbury Weekly News”.
Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North) replied: “This is not snazzy, it is a genuine attempt to get some cross-party support so we can say to residents ‘we are all in this together’.
“We take these proposals seriously and we are doing all we can to mitigate the loss to the community.”
Conservative Tim Metcalfe (Purley on Thames) added: “I have got a degree of sympathy with this motion tonight, like it is designed to put out a message that we are somehow greedy.”
Emma Webster (Con, Birch Copse) said she had made the decision to donate her £1,000 allowance increase to community groups in her ward.
Although councillors did vote against reversing the decision to increase their allowances, they did reject proposals to give themselves a one-per-cent pay rise in April.