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Senior Walsall councillors in line for a £6,700 rise
Tuesday 3rd January 2012, 11:00AM GMT.
Walsall Council House
Senior councillors in Walsall are set to receive increases in allowances of up to £6,700, it can be revealed today.
The authority is set to agree a rise for the leader of the council, the deputy leader and cabinet members, to take effect from April.
The increases are outlined in a report due to go before the full council meeting next Monday.
It says an independent panel has recommended that the leader is awarded an increase of more than £2,000 to £22,356 per year, while the deputy leader’s allowance should be nearly doubled from £8,302 to £15,000.
The allowances of cabinet members would increase from £8,300 to £9,300.
The panel said the increases would narrow the gap between Walsall’s allowances and those of other local authorities.
The news comes as 99 jobs are due to be cut at the council in the next financial year.
Council leader Councillor Mike Bird said: “It’s not the people the panel has looked at, it is the positions.
“The independent panel, and they are exactly that, says it is what we should do.
“It is quite a responsible job, and it’s even more responsible with the budget situation. You have to pay for the expertise you are employing.”
He added: “If you look at the rest of the country, our pay is far below the median.”
In the report, it is said that the median or average pay at other councils across the country is £26,850 for council leaders and £17,500 for deputy leaders.
The report recommends that councillors agree the proposed increases with a long-term plan to bring the wages in line with the median.
Deputy leader of the council Adrian Andrew said: “If you go into local politics for the money, there’s no point.
“I do think we should be brought in line with other councils of a comparable size.”
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Cllr Andrew – I agree with you 100%. All other councils should reduce their allowances for we are all in it together. When the Prime Minister elects to accept an increase that is when you should as well.
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How many of those 99 job losses could have been saved by the councillors not having a pay rise?
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You agree with Cllr Andrew??? Cllr Andrew is the one getting the extra £6300. Cllr Andrew is saying this so he can hold his hands up and say “wasn’t me guy”… Wise up!
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yes, I agree with him. Walsall allowances should be in line with ebvery where else – which is shy I suggested a reduction everywhere else.
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Oink oink oink oink
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Why not do away with councillors full stop? They don’t represent anything but their own interests and all the work is done by council officers.
Just make council chief executives fully accountable and do away with these mostly unqualified and untalented buffoons!
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Unfortunately your suggestion would effectively lead to those unqualified and untalented buffoons taking over the reins of the council from the council officers.
In order for the the council chief executives to be fully accountable to the people (rather than to the elected councillors) then they would have to be voted for. This would lead to those unqualified and untalented buffoons being put forward by their political parties instead of professional officers.
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Sickening really – I do a job that earns at least £6500-8000 less than if I lived in Birmingham. Should somebody bump up my finances too?
I think if you live in an area where salaries and expenses tend to be lower, you have to expect it in all types of employment. This is the probably with democracy and capitalism as we know them – the ideals are great, but the practice is thoroughly abused and produces an unnecessary elitism.
And in a time where the majority of the country is looking at cuts, in a time of economic instability and uncertainty, the politicians have once again aligned themselves with the capitalists and bankers. Independent review or not, the decision could have been easily made to reject this superfluous increase in allowances, at the very least until our economy has stabilised.
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I agree totally with Putza Shiftin.
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Half of the Councillor’s are illiterate and cannot even string a sentence together and now they are paying them more.
I work at WHG and this has not gone down too well with staff especially after we are doing the jobs of people who have been made redundant
A scandal that is what it is
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WHG is a bit of a gravy train, too
What do they need new offices for? They’ve got perfectly servicable offices in Tameway Tower already.
They should have sepnt the money on new homes or improving the existing ones
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and yet again the councillore look after themselves with another pay rise, yet us meer mortals face an unsure year, higher prices, less money and no jobs!!!
but its all gonna be ok the councillors will look after us with their secure jobs, pay rise and no worry, I dont think so, their’s one rule for them amd another for us !!!! does anyone know what job they do and how the hell they earnerd their wonderful pay rises cos I dont, i have children who all work hard but struggle to get by each week and not one of them will probarbly get a pay rise this year !!
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The Council have deliberately slow-killed the town in order for it to become a suburb of Birmingham. As a result, if they only provide the services of a suburb, they should only receive suburban wages.
Leave big-town wages to those who run successful big towns and cities that have thrived under the guidance of their councillors.
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Councillors a Rise ,is this a Joke ?
All l hear from residents and shop keepers is what have Councillors done for our area ?
We never see our Counicllors in our area trying to improve it.
The only time we see some Councillors is Election, voting time to get votes so they have a job.
In fact l ask residents when was the last time you say your Councillor in your area dealing with issues from residents ?
What has your Councillor done in your area since being a Councillor ?
l think we are better off without Councillors ,the money saved can be put back in imrpoving areas, Litter bins , fencing,gating, bollards where they are needed etc.
Money can be better spent in aresa to imrpove them than going to pay for Councillors !
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Don’t they think before they award these rises? Both Private and public sector workers have lost their jobs. Some haven’t had rises for two years or more and are now facing capped wage rises for another year. The redundancies in the public sector are far from over and these people award themselves rises??? A disgrace!!
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Absolutely disgusting another town full of useless councillors swallowed up by greed .Get rid of the big fat cats and put it back into the area so we can be proud of Walsall for once instead of being disgusted and embarrassed by it .
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Why, exactly, do we need to “…narrow the gap between Walsall’s allowances and those of other local authorities.”?
If a councillor wants to earn more in allowances let him/her got to the authorities that pay more.
Or, better still, let him/her improve Walsall to the extent that more money is a well-earned reward.
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