More pay for council facing axe

Jan 9 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

MEMBERS of a Labour-controlled council in Northumberland have voted themselves a bumper 31% pay rise – even though their authority will be abolished in just over a year’s time.

The 45 members of Wansbeck District Council will see their basic allowance go up from £3,114 to £4,066 in April following the decision to accept the recommendations of an independent advisory panel.

They will pocket the increased allowances for only 12 months, because in May 2009 the authority is due to be abolished and replaced by a new, single super-council covering the whole of Northumberland.

Opposition Liberal Democrat councillors voted against accepting the enhanced payments, which also involve a 31% rise in special responsibility allowances paid to cabinet portfolio holders on top of their basic allowances.

The Liberal Democrats say the decision flies in the face of Gordon Brown’s pledge to keep a lid on public-sector spending and is unnecessary and unjustified when Wansbeck Council is only a year away from extinction.

However, Labour councillors decided to accept the findings of the Independent Remuneration Panel, which said allowances had not gone up since 2002 and councillors’ increased workload justified a 31% rise in pay.

The panel also took into account recommendations made by Prof Michael Cole, a research fellow at the University of Plymouth, who was asked to look at the level of allowances paid to Wansbeck councillors.

Yesterday former Liberal Democrat group leader, Newbiggin councillor Alan Thompson, said: “We voted against this on principle. We know we are going over to a unitary authority in 2009 anyway so there is no reason to change our existing pay structure now.

“Things have got a lot better in Wansbeck in recent years but councillors’ performance certainly doesn’t justify a 31% rise in pay.

“How can we ask public-sector workers to limit wage rises when this sort of thing goes on?”

Wansbeck Council Labour leader John Devon said: “We agreed with the independent panel that this increase was justified as a reward for the extra work councillors have done over the five years since the allowances were last increased.”

The decision means the annual cost of councillors’ allowances in Wansbeck goes up from £211,817 to £262,126 – a rise of £51,000.