Despite a recommendation from an Independent Panel, Waverley Councillors will receive no increase in their allowances or expenses.
Sir Peter Bottomley, the whingeing husband of our former SW Surrey MP and Secretary of State for Health Virginia Bottomley. Now Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone husband says:
It’s grim having to live on £82,000 a year, says Sir Peter Bottomley, UK’s longest-serving MP
The Father of the House and MP for Worthing West says parliamentarians should have higher salaries linked to the amount paid to a professional, such as a GP. The WAVERLEY WEB understands that some of our Liberal Democrats and other councillors don’t even take the allowances and expenses they are entitled to receive.
Here is a table of increases the panel recommended:
Council Leader Paul Follows said in the light of the numerous Government tax increases imposed; he believed it would be:
“entirely improper to recommend raising members allowances.”
Therefore, due to the significant pressures on the council’s budgets, the Executive would recommend that there be no increase in councillors allowances to the Full Council. The situation will be reviewed again after the 2023 elections by an Independent Review Panel.
However, the WW is unsure whether the following recommendation by the IRP goes ahead?
The annual indexation of Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances in line with the percentage increase in staff salaries continues from 1 April 2022 for up to three years.
The recommendation for no increases was accepted unanimously by the Executive. Even though councillors, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and the extra responsibilities and work programmes involved with the pandemic and the Climate change Emergency, have endured an unprecedented increased workload. Some councillors are now working full-time.
The Executive agreed this without a flicker of hesitation. When allowances are eventually reviewed as things ease, I think the priority should be to give some reward to Town Councillors (I’m not one myself) who get a big fat zero for knocking themselves out for the community. There are areas where town councils do nothing useful (where I used to be the MP that was one and I favoured dissolving them all), but we’ve devolved a lot of power to the TCs in Waverley and they really work to good effect.
A general problem is that because borough councillors have modest salaries and town councillors nothing, most of them are retired and very few young people come forward. In the long run, it might be better to have fewer but pay more. But in the current situation it would be ridiculous to hand out real pay rises.
Heartily agree with your view that town and we believe parish councillors should receive some recompense for the many hours they give to their local communities. At least they should be paid for their expenses.
Just to quickly agree with Nick – not even a flicker of hesitation to dismiss any thought of a rise.
A rise was recommended by independent panel. In the interview I had with them I told them that if they recommended a rise I would strike it out. This is exactly what happened.
I am sure full council at Waverley will fully endorse the position of the executive.
One of the other points I made in my interview with the panel was along the lines of the other point that Nick made – but is also wider about the need for more general reform (that honestly I struggle to see happening).
The idea of allowance rises for councillors in this climate is just wrong, and we have acted accordingly.
Let us all hope our MP’s follow your example. Though judging by The Hon Peter Bottomley’s heavy-duty whinge we won’t be holding our breath.