Proposals potentially set to go forward for discussion for councillors this month could lead to councillors allowances INCREASING..... right in the middle of a financial crisis !
Tuesday 10th Jan 2023 10:28am
Potential plans for councillors allowances to INCREASE are set to go before elected members this month & will detail a number of proposals, one of which includes a potential CUT to basic allowances & Special Responsibility Allowances.
Councillors will likely discuss the proposals sometime this month
The plans were first put forward in December at the councils Finance & Policy Comittie & could be up for discussion again at this months full council meeting
According to the report, its claimed Hartlepool councillors are currently paid some of the lowest remunerations in the form of allowances across Teesside & the North East in regards to the payments of councillors allowances & SRA's.
However in proposals set to go before councillors this month, that could all change, as plans have been put forward following recommendations from the Independent Remuneration Panel for Councillors to potentially see their allowances rise, in accordance with the IRP's proposals.
Extract of the document Hartlepool Matters has seen thats set to go before councilors this month
Hartlepool Borough Council currently pays its elected councillors the yearly sum of £8,330, which reportedly equates to the fourth lowest in terms of payments made to elected councillors across Teesside. That equates to around £4.13 as the cost to the individual tax payer.
Its claimed that whilst the local council doesn't have to formally accept the findings of the Independent Remuneration Panel, councillors could controversially accept the proposals put forward which would see their allowances INCREASE , potentially sparking a huge public backlash in the process.
According to the report, If Hartlepool Boruough Council sets the Basic Allowance at the North Easts lowest and also applied this to the Special Responsibility Allowances paid to councillors already, it would cut councillors allowances by 9% - generating a potential saving to the local tax payer of £34,000.
However, if Hartlepool Borough Council sets the Basic Allowance at the North East average of £9,768, and also applied this to Special Responsibility Allowances it would increase councillors allowances by 17% - a potential cost to the council of around £65,000.
The council also claimed that using the Tees Valley average, the increase would be 4.8% - resulting in a potential cost to the local rate payer of £18,000.
The controversial nature of the proposals could mean that councillors may opt to defer any decision making on such proposals at the time where the council's looking for significant savings on top of the pressures of a potential council tax increase in April 2023 particulally due to the impact of the negative press & media coverage the council would recieve voting through such proposals & the damage to the reputation of the local council in the process.
Councillors in Stockton on Tees controversially agreed to increase their alowances in November 2022 & it didnt go down well with the public.
Councillors in Stockton On Tees controversially agreed to raise their allowances by 1.49% in line with the IRP's recomendations in November 2022 just days after announcing a significant Council Tax rise to the borough sparking anger amongst local residents, with some saying that should Hartlepool councillors agree to increase their allowances at a time the councils making hefty cuts to local services, it would effectively "strengthen" the publics argument that fundemental change of the councils senior management would need to be undertaken by way of a no confidence motion in the running of the council itself.
Nevertheless, its highly unlikely that councillors in Hartlepool would vote to see their allowances being CUT in line with the North East's average lowest allowances paid to councillors in the region, which would signify a hefty chop in councillor pay.
The decision to increase councillor allowances in Hartlepool would be election "suicide" & voters would punish those who supported it at the ballot box....
A decision to increase allowances would put the election race in May firmly behind Labour if they voted down the proposals for an increase....
Labour, currently the councils opposition group has on a number of occasions asked for SRA's to be reviewed potentially allowing the council to make significant savings in the long term howveer these plans were swiftly voted down by the councils Tory / Indi coalition whcih currently make up the largest numbers in the council chamber, with councillors very much aware that voting throgh such a controversial move in the midst of one of the worst financial crisises the council has ever seen would be an election disaster, with the public very much minded that come may, those who vote for the proposals will likely see their election majorities chopped away at by opposition groups or their leads gone altogether, as the public grows increasingly angry at councillors hiking up council taxes whlst at the same time wanting to increase their own remuneration.
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