North Yorkshire’s UKIP county councillors are calling for a radical review of the members’ allowance scheme, including the scrapping of a number of the tax payer-funded handouts.
Couns David Simister and Sam Cross have written to the authority’ independent remuneration panel, which is meeting next week to set the amount it pays in allowances and expenses to the 72 elected members.
They are calling for:
Members basic allowance of £8,994 being cut by £1,000
Scrapping the special allowance paid to the leaders and secretaries of the second group and those groups with seven councillors currently set at £2,316 and £1,544
Halving the amount paid to the chairs of committees, currently set between £1,544 and £9,264
Keeping the petrol allowance at 40p per mile
Reducing the Chairman’s special allowance of £9,264 by three-quarters
Scrapping the vice chairman’s allowance, currently at £3,088
Coun Cross, who represents Filey on the North Yorkshire County Council said:
Over the next few years the authority will have to save tens-of-millions-of-pounds, resulting in jobs being lost and services cut to the bone.
As county councillors we need to be setting an example and look at how we can help the county council balance its books. A good place to start is by reducing the amount of money members cost.
Coun Simister, who represents the Harrogate division of Bilton & Nidd Gorge said:
David Cameron likes telling us ‘we are all in it together’, and, that being the case, I’m sure his Conservative councillors will be happy to back our call.
Why should the leader of the Lib Dems get an additional allowance when he leads a party of just eight, and why should the chairman get an extra £9,000 and his deputy £3,000?
We shouldn’t be in politics for the money – we should be in it because we want to make a positive difference to the areas we represent.
Coun Cross added:
The remuneration panel sits on Thursday and will report its findings to the council in February. I hope it considers our recommendations carefully and acts accordingly.
Councillors – allowances
Chairman of the council £9,264
Vice-chairman of the council £3,088
Leader of the council £24,704
Deputy leader of the council £15,440
Executive members £13,896
Chairman of the scrutiny of health committee £9,264
Chairmen of other overview and scrutiny committees £4,632
Vice-chairmen of other overview and scrutiny committees £1,544
Chairman of the pensions committee £4,632
Chairmen of area committees £3,088
Chairmen of appeals committees £3,088
Chairmen of audit committees £3,088
Chairman of the planning and regulatory functions committee £3,088
Chairman of the standards committee £1,544
Chairman of the planning and regulatory functions sub-committee £1,544
Chairman of the employment appeals committee £1,544
Leaders of political groups, where the group is the second party in group membership £4,632
Leaders of political groups, where the group has over ten per cent of all members (where there is more than one such group, the allowance shall be shared equally. NB ten per cent of the membership is to be interpreted as seven in number) £2,316
Chairman of the scrutiny board £1,544
Secretaries of political groups, where the group is the first party in group membership £2,316
Secretaries of political groups, where the group is the second party in group membership £1,544
Secretaries of political groups, where the group has over ten per cent of all members (where there is more than one such group, the allowance shall be shared equally. NB ten per cent of the membership is to be interpreted as seven in number) £772
Champions for young people and older people £4,632
Independent person £772
Chairman of the police and crime panel £4,632
Vice-chairmen of the police and crime panel £1,544
