Tories and Libs vote for expenses increase
MEMBERS have pledged to forego a parking allowance of £100 or donate it to charity, after voting to support recommendations on allowances.
The Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) had said that councillors should receive the increase to cover the cost of parking at Shute End for meetings, however some councillors felt that the money should not be taken.
Three weeks ago, Cllr Andy
Croy had argued in a letter to
The Wokingham Paper that
“Tory councillors are set to vote themselves a £100 a car parking bonus”, something that the leader of the council, Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor, refuted in the chamber.
She said that his letter was
“an attack on the hard work and independence of this [IRP] panel” and that he had “no evidence of his claim – Cllr Croy should withdraw his statement.”
Cllr Croy stood up and said: “Absolutely not.”
Cllr Haitham Taylor said: “In this case, this behaviour is not fit for public service.”
The leader of the council also thanked the new panel for their hard work: the three-strong panel had come together after the last IRP panel resigned when their recommendations were not followed last year.
One of the speakers during the debate was former leader Cllr Keith Baker, who was in charge of the Conservatives last November.
He said: “I strongly support the view that no-one should receive more than one SRA.
“I think it would be inappropriate for me to accept any form of increase … I will not be accepting any change in my remuneration.
“Under my tenure, I did ask the [previous] IRP to review
NED [non-executive directorship of council-owned companies] payments as part of their remit.
I am disappointed that the new panel have felt unable to continue that. I have been drawing an SRA and NED allowance since 19th
June this year. I have struggled to reconcile this with my views on multiple allowances and have come to the conclusion that this cannot continue.”
He then resigned as a NED from December 1.
Cllr Clive Jones (Liberal
Democrat, Hawkedon) said that he could not take the £100 car parking allowance while the public were being charged, a theme echoed by other councillors concerned that volunteers are being made to pay to park when visiting the Shute End offices.
Cllr Ian Pittock warned that details of members expenses are not easily found on the council’s website, with some having only been added on the day of the meeting.
“You have to know where they are before you can start searching for it,” he said, warning that WBC must improve its own website.
And Cllr Andy Croy said “Let’s be very clear, we are voting ourselves a pay rise. Prove me wrong and vote against.”
Cllr Lindsay Ferris, the Liberal Democrat leader said: “We want to support the IRP, but also support sensitivity. It’s up to individuals’ consciences. We [the Liberal Democrats] all agree not to take the money, but to donate £100 to local charities.”
And Cllr Charlotte HaithamTaylor revealed that Conservatives on the council had signed a pledge not to take the £100 rise (pictured above).
The pledge says: “We will voluntarily forgo the extra £100 in out of pocket allowances until the next review of the IRP takes effect”.
The vote was passed with Labour voting against, while Cllr Baker and independent Cllr Gary Cowan abstained.
Speaking to The Wokingham Paper afterwards, Cllr Croy said that Cllr Haitham Taylor’s comments against him were upsetting.
“I’ve been saying they’d vote themselves a pay rise for the past couple of months and that’s exactly what they’ve done.
“The IRP makes its recommendations after hearing representations from councillors. Some councillors asked for car parking charges to be looked at. It wasn’t me, it was someone else.”
And he felt that the Conservatives have used their pledge not to take the money now as a stalling tactic: “The next panel will report and then backdate its recommendations to April, so they’ll take the money from April.
“I’m really pleased that by commenting on the issue we’ve managed to generate a little bit of shame.”