Labour plans
could undermine trust in local councillors warns Bob Blackman
Local councillors will soon be paid for voting from their sofa or from the pub, the small
print of Government documents revealed. Labour Ministers are to push ahead with
changing the law to let councillors skip town hall meetings but still cash in
on their council tax-funded salaries and pensions. This is despite overwhelming
public opposition to the plans in a formal consultation.
·
Councillors
to stay put on their sofas: In July, as part of a widely-derided 'Community
Empowerment White Paper', Labour Ministers announced plans to allow "remote"
voting in town halls. Local councillors
will not have to turn up at meetings. They will be able to vote by phone or
internet, from their home, their place of work or the local pub. The White
Paper also included plans to introduce free doughnuts and prize draws for
voting in elections; to remove controls on town hall propaganda; and to undo
anti-sleaze laws brought in to stop 'jobs for the boys' corruption.
·
Anger at
Labour Government plans: The small print of the responses to the Government
's consultation, published on 26 January, reveals widespread opposition to the
changes. Less than a quarter of town halls backed the plans, warning that the
move "erodes public confidence in democracy" and is "lacking transparency and
accountability". The responses note that "concerns were also raised about the
practicality and cost of remote attendance and voting", and stresses that "citizens
want to be able to attend public meetings and see their councillors at work." Alarm was also raised over the increased risk of expensive legal challenges to
controversial decisions, such as planning applications. But the Government has simply
ignored this opposition, and says it still plans to change the law, regardless.
·
Green
light to skip meetings as town hall salaries rocket: It thought that permission
to skip meetings is being proposed by Labour Ministers to make it easier for
Labour councillors to hold down multiple jobs, on top of raking in their
councillor salaries. Yet in recent years, ever since Labour's Local Government
Act 2000 and the widespread abolition of the 'Committee' system, councillor
salaries have soared. Labour Ministers' plans come as council tax bills from
April are due to hit record levels, with the average bill in England rising by
£48 to reach £1,421 a year on a Band D home (equivalent to almost £120 a
month).
Bob Blackman, said:
"Harrow's councillors work extremely hard and they have have a vital role in standing up for
local neighbourhoods. But decision-making by local councils must remain open, transparent and public.
"At a time when
council tax bills are to hit record levels and people are working harder than
ever to make ends meet, it is incredible that Labour Ministers are effectively
pushing for some councillors to do less work for more money.
"I fear that Labour's
plans for armchair voting and voting from the pub will create real cynicism
amongst hard-pressed taxpayers.''
Notes to Editors
COUNCILLORS TO
VOTE FROM THE ARMCHAIR OR PUB
In July 2008, the small print of the Government's so-called Community
Empowerment White Paper announced proposals to allow councillors to miss
council meetings and vote from their sofa or the local pub.
"Commitment: Remote Voting.
Enabling Councillors to participate in meetings and votes remotely".
DCLG, Communities in Control, 9 July 2008, p.137.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol
On 26 January 2009, the Government published the response to the
consultation proposals on "improving local accountability". Again in the small
print, it reveals widespread opposition to Labour Ministers' proposed changes
on remote voting, but the Government re-affirms its intention to push ahead,
ignoring the inconvenient consultation responses.
"Consultation question 13: Do
you agree with the proposed approach (to legislate to allow authorities to
modify their attendance and voting procedures as necessary to allow remote
voting)?
53. Of the 143 responses to
this question, half of respondents opposed the proposals outright, a third gave
support qualified to a greater or lesser extent for some or all aspects of the
proposal and less than a quarter
supported the proposal in the consultation document. There was no
correlation between the type of respondent and the opinion they expressed.
54. The most common concern raised was that remote attendance and voting is
contrary to the work of the council and councillors being transparent and
accountable and that in lacking transparency and accountability it erodes
public confidence in democracy. There was a very clear message from those
consulted that not only do councillors have to meet face to face to get the
best out of their meetings with each other, but citizens want to be able to
attend public meetings and see their
councillors at work.
55. Concerns were also
raised about the practicality and cost of remote attendance and voting, with
respondents suggesting that the proposals could benefit from being trialled to
determine how remote attendance and voting could be successfully achieved.
56. It was acknowledged that
while there are advantages to remote attendance and voting, there are also
risks involved not just in terms of damage
to confidence in local government but also in terms of increased risk of
challenge on decisions arrived at through meetings or decisions that involve
remote attendance.
57. We acknowledge the
concerns but believe that these can be addressed successfully. The Government
believes the implementation of the proposals will require primary legislation
and accordingly we intend to work with the Local Government Association, local
authorities and other stakeholders to address the particular concerns raised
pending introduction of primary legislation which the Government intends to
seek at the next convenient opportunity.''
DCLG, Communities in Control: Real people, real power - Government response
to the improving local accountability consultation, 26 January 2009, p.18.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/govresponselocalaccountability
ROCKETING TOWN HALL PAY
According to research by the Taxpayers' Alliance in 2007, the average
councillor now receives £9,300 a year, with many members of fire and police
authorities or with 'special responsibility' salaries receiving up to £40,000 a
year. Taking into account wage inflation, the average town hall salary will be
£10,000 in 2009.
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2007/04/average_council.html
The rocketing level stems from the abolition of the Committee system in the
Local Government Act 2000, and the replacement with a new regime of salaries.
"Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes
his Department and its predecessors have made to the (a) allowances, (b)
salaries and (c) pensions for councillors since May 1997.
Mr. Woolas: Since May 1997
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made a number of changes to the
rules relating to allowances and pensions for councillors. There is no
provision for the payment of salaries to councillors.
The principal effects of
these changes are as follows:
To give responsibility for the setting of
allowances to local authorities.
To allow local authorities to pay allowances
for the care of children and other dependants.
To allow councillors access to the local
government pension scheme.''
Hansard, 14 December 2005, col. 1965W.
DERIDED COMMUNITY
EMPOWERMENT WHITE PAPER
Proposals in the Government’s White Paper also included:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol
Propaganda on the rates -
weakening rules on party political literature
Page 109 of the White Paper pledged to "review the Code of Recommended
Practice on Local Government Publicity and other central guidance which sets
out which activities are deemed party political or official." These rules were
put in place in 1986 to stop inappropriate partisan spending. An extensive
survey by the Taxpayers Alliance revealed in December that publicity spending
by town halls has soared to £450 million under Labour. http://tpa.typepad.com/waste/2007/12/council-spendin.html
Jobs for the boys
Page 106 of the White Paper plans to tear up the so-called Widdicombe
rules introduced in 1989 to stop corruption in local government. The rules stop
council workers above a certain salary band from also being councillors to
avoid conflicts of interest and the politicisation of the 'local' Civil
Service.
Doughnuts and prize draws to
vote
Page 70 of the White Paper proposed "to provide incentives for voting
in local government elections", such as by prize draws. The previous Chairman
of the Councillors Commission, Dame Jane Roberts, has suggested that this could
involve free doughnuts in return for voting.
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