Are we still all in this together?
25th October 2010, Appendix 7, Cornwall Council's Emergency Budget:
1. Save on staff and Members pay and benefits (my emphasis)
This is what the council reported as the number one priority. The savings on staff pay and benefits have been well documented. But what has the council done to reduce spending on members? Allowances "frozen" - but not cut. Number of members: 123. And if I remember correctly, about 20% of them didn't even turn up for the budget meeting.
Incidentally, this email from councillor Ann Kerridge arrived today:
The rumour mill at Cornwall Council has been in overdrive recently about a plot to replace Tory council leader Alec Robertson with Fiona Ferguson. Apparently a number of Conservative backbenchers have become concerned about Alec's autocratic style of management. Thus there will be few who think a cabinet paper proposing the creation of posts to assist cabinet members is unconnected with this revolt. Especially as the new jobs are 99.9% certain to attract remuneration.
At the beginning of the council in 2011 I proposed that total payments to councillors be frozen until 2015 in the light of cuts and redundancies that would hit council services. The basic councillors' allowance has been frozen whilst total expenditure on councillors has increased because jobs have been created to placate Mebyon Kernow amongst others.I predict that this ploy to save Alec Robertson's skin will get voted through by Conservatives and Independent councillors. I predict that Fiona Ferguson won't replace Alec but that she will get a position with a responsibility allowance and that total spending on councillors will go up again.
It may be necessary to buy off dissident councillors. If that has to happen then it should be paid for by a reduction in the generous payments to Alec and the rest of his cabinet. After all it is them and not council tax payers who have caused the problem.
I'm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Devon’s Graham Smith, blogging on news, views and some fresh insights into West Country life, particularly the way government works locally and nationally.
Comment number 1.
At 19th Apr 2011, John Macloud wrote:These proposals will not only lead to increased costs of "members pay and benefits" but also to more secrecy in decision making. The report being considered by the Cabinet tomorrow, as well as proposing new paid cabinet support posts, also proposes abolishing a number of executive panels (e.g the Parking Panel and Newquay Airport Development Panel) which are formally convened meetings with published agendas and rights of access to the public. These will be replaced by informal working groups (no doubt hosted by cabinet support members) which will not have published agendas or any rights of access to the public. Why this move towards secrecy and decisions behind closed doors when Alec Robertson went on record on his election as Leader of the Council saying he was committed to openness and transparency?
The apparent revolt of "backbench" councillors is probably not just about politics and leadership style. It is almost an inevitable consequence of a cabinet system where there are 123 councillors but just 10 who take all the major decisions. This system, imposed by the Blair government in early 2000 has always sat uneasily with Local Government. The current Localism Bill permits a change back to a committee system which served many councils well for years. This system provides much greater involvement of all councillors in decision making. If the Council wishes to review how its decision making processes are operating, perhaps it might like to consider a return to the committee system as an option?
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