More Buckinghamshire County Council councillors to get paid more
8:00am Tuesday 1st December 2009 in News By Oliver Evans
Buckinghamshire County Council's offices in Aylesbury
MORE councillors will get extra cash after bosses went against Government guidance on pay.
Buckinghamshire County Council members approved increasing the number of payments for councillors who take on extra roles from 19 to 38. It has 57 overall.
This is despite the Government advising that councils should not give more than 50 per cent of members these “special responsibility allowances” (SRAs).
And an independent panel charged with making recommendations on pay said it was “not entirely comfortable” with the move, suggested by Conservative council leaders.
It means spokesmen and watchdog members, jobs which never before attracted an SRA, will now get paid. Bosses said the roles are now more complex and the overall bill is now less.
Government guidance states: “If the majority of members of a council receive a special responsibility allowance the local electorate may rightly question whether this was justified.”
Councils should consider “very carefully” the importance of these jobs against the need for payments, it says. A “significant extra workload” is needed, it said.
And an independent renumeration panel which advised councillors also raised concerns. A meeting of the council voted through the changes on Thursday.
The panel said while the change would exceed guidelines, it felt “this is acceptable, because of both increased responsibilities and workloads”.
But it said: “The panel do not feel entirely comfortable with more than 50 per cent of members receiving an SRA and do not therefore want to be committed to exceeding ‘best practices’ in future reviews.”
The SRAS are on top of the basic allowance of £10,718 that all councillors get.
This, SRAs, expenses and “chief officers” pay will be frozen next year, a move the council trumpeted in a press release last week (see link, bottom of story).
The overall councillor wage bill will fall, from £907,478 to £905,177 this year.
This is because some SRA posts have been removed (see link at bottom of story for comparison between the two years).
Deputy council leader Bill Chapple said the Government document is “guidance, not rules”.
Councils had taken on more roles since the guidance was published in 2001, he said, and spokesman, for example, had a wider and more “arduous task”.
“Things have changed dramatically since then.”
He said: “This is a token of recognition.”
The council’s pay freeze comes after years of major increases for managers.
Between 2007/08 and 2008/09, last year, the number of managers on more than £50,000 went up about a fifth, from 163 to 197 (see link, bottom of story).
Chief executive Chris Williams got £210,000 to £219,999 last year, more than Prime Minister Gordon Brown £197,689.
This went up from £190,000 to £199,999 the previous year. And this was a 44 per cent increase on the year before that, a move that outraged tax campaigners.
The council refuses to release exact salaries.
Comments(17)
DeepThinker
says...
9:02am Tue 1 Dec 09
Can they actually speak?
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Google any of these names and see how many have more than just their official "who I am" pages listed. There are few, if any, news items about them, there are no stories in the media where they are quoted as spokespeople. So what do they do?
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It is similar to television shows from the US where the star cannot be paid more because of TV companies policy about actors pay, so they get a credit as an "executive producer" and are paid a hefty chunk of money for doing nothing extra.
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The only way the council feels it can pay itself more is to invent extra "responsibilities" and give these people extra ... for nothing. Yet they will make a big thing of the fact that they have frozen pay.
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As far as senior council employees are concerned, Mr Shakespeare et al, their wages are obscene. (Remember that these people also have large expense accounts that are not included in their "wage" figure.)
The old line that "we need to pay the going rate to get top quality executives" may be justified ... if we were getting top quality executives. Unfortunately we are not. The council seem to be employing second rate executives on first rate pay.
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The same applies in the Health services. There are so many different orgainisations involved .. each with well paid executives.
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Remember that this is OUR money and those with their hands on the purse strings need to take remember that when paying out large sums of money to people who do a barely acceptable job.
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DeepThinker
says...
9:09am Tue 1 Dec 09
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Making party political jibes is not going to improve things one iota.
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We need a way to control these people between visits to the ballot box. Unfortunately many of the people involved in politics (central and local) are in it for what they can get out of it for themselves, whether that be financial, ego, self importance, looks good on CV for business, etc.
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Sadly, few are in it for the people they are supposed to represent.
But such is life!
A VOTER
says...
9:22am Tue 1 Dec 09
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But then again, maybe not. After all, they are the self serving, immoral, thieving councillors that we have come to expect this type of action from.
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In any other job, not only would they not be receiving more salary, but they would be expected to work extra just to secure employment. Plus they would be concerned for their jobs. They are so out of touch with the people that are required by law to pay their wages through taxation.
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An overpaid job, with a secure, exorbitant pension, for inefficient, ineffectual, uncaring, fat cats.
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It’s time to sack all of these thieving b@$t@®d$. And make sure they do not get a golden parachute package.
The Judge
says...
10:17am Tue 1 Dec 09
FIRST ICE-BANK AND NOW THIS - LETS GET THEM OUT - THIS MEANS A RISE IN COUNCIL TAX.
JUDGE
Curlycurly
says...
10:51am Tue 1 Dec 09
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We voted for them. The only way to change the Tory-run Wycombe District council is not to vote for the them in the next election. They always say that you need new people in to wipe out corruption and scandals. I can only imagine what new people running the council would find!
Slimster
says...
11:19am Tue 1 Dec 09
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While a few at the top may well be overpaid in many people's eyes, much of the change is where people have taken on extra responsibility/work. I'm sure you would all like to be paid if you had done this?
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"The overall councillor wage bill will fall, from £907,478 to £905,177 this year. " - so not all bad.
wayneo
says...
11:26am Tue 1 Dec 09
Slimster wrote:That's how I read it too, in all fairness, while I despise many of the Council members for what they have done, in this case the payments are justified.
Has anyone actually taken the time to read the article properly? - While a few at the top may well be overpaid in many people's eyes, much of the change is where people have taken on extra responsibility/work. I'm sure you would all like to be paid if you had done this? - "The overall councillor wage bill will fall, from £907,478 to £905,177 this year. " - so not all bad.
A VOTER
says...
11:32am Tue 1 Dec 09
Slimster wrote:I'm sure that we would all like to be paid for extra work, but these councilorsdon't know the meaning of the word.
Has anyone actually taken the time to read the article properly? - While a few at the top may well be overpaid in many people's eyes, much of the change is where people have taken on extra responsibility/work. I'm sure you would all like to be paid if you had done this? - "The overall councillor wage bill will fall, from £907,478 to £905,177 this year. " - so not all bad.
"Extra responsibility" is just a phrase used to justify "extra salary", in order to replace the shotcommings experienced as a result of the stricter rules governing expenses.
At a time when many people are facing unemployment, or reduced income, our councilors shouldn't be awarding themselves pay rises. They receive too much money from us already.
Now they are just insulting us.
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DeepThinker
says...
1:55pm Tue 1 Dec 09
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It is the same in in 99% of all councils across Britain not matter which party is in control.
A VOTER
says...
2:41pm Tue 1 Dec 09
DeepThinker wrote:Then maybe it's about time we voted for something other than the main three parties, if only to rid ourselves of the current group of overpaid monkeys.
Unfortunately local government is a club where they share the money around amongst themselves. - It is the same in in 99% of all councils across Britain not matter which party is in control.
Time for democracy...
Time for a Bucks Party... "by the people, for the people"
Now where have I heard that before???
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J B Blackett
says...
7:11pm Tue 1 Dec 09
towncryer wrote:You are correct , towncryer, but how did the people of Chicago get rid of Al Capone ? Or Italians vanquish Mussolini ?
Discusting behavoiur by these Tory councillors
Sacking staff and taking more money for themselves!!!
Im sick of these gtreedy arrogant Tores-- Shakespeare and his Tory cronies need to go !!
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Answer - they couldn't and didn't.
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The party system is too entrenched now into the local government processes. Run now as personal fiefdoms on behalf of the incumbents and supported by the powerful well-funded national parties.
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Please note - the Cosa Nostra still exists and lives in protected environments in County Halls all over the country.
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Unless .........
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Regards
PS Did you know we have property developers on Wycombe Council ?
michael healy
says...
8:04pm Tue 1 Dec 09
Michael Healy The Kebab Man
Princes Risborough
www.Kebabs4u.co.uk
DeepThinker
says...
11:07pm Tue 1 Dec 09
michael healy wrote:Can you not make a comment without advertising your kebab van that attracts antisocial behaviour in Princes Risborough?
The council seems to have too many committees for everything under the sun nowadays. Why cant they streamline things like other organisations and stop wasting OUR money!!!!! Michael Healy The Kebab Man Princes Risborough www.Kebabs4u.co.uk
michael healy
says...
11:54pm Tue 1 Dec 09
Sorry to dissappoint you!
Your A JOKER!!!!!
You dont know me you havent been to my van and you make up these absurd stories. You sure your not an MP ha ha ha ha
Curlycurly
says...
4:20pm Thu 3 Dec 09
DeepThinker wrote:Deep Thinker - your comment is completely out of order regarding antisocial behaviour and the kebab van. I think it is what you call slander.
michael healy wrote: The council seems to have too many committees for everything under the sun nowadays. Why cant they streamline things like other organisations and stop wasting OUR money!!!!! Michael Healy The Kebab Man Princes Risborough www.Kebabs4u.co.ukCan you not make a comment without advertising your kebab van that attracts antisocial behaviour in Princes Risborough?
wulfie49
says...
4:54pm Fri 4 Dec 09
Incidentally, how many of you who are moaning about what councillors are paid have actually done the job at any level? I suggest you try it and find out just what is involved. Oh, and start at Parish Council level first. Although it is permitted for Parish councillors to get an allowance, I've never know any of them to do so, in order to keep the Parish precepts (and your council tax) down.
towncryer says...
8:39am Tue 1 Dec 09
Sacking staff and taking more money for themselves!!!
Im sick of these gtreedy arrogant Tores-- Shakespeare and his Tory cronies need to go !!