Councillors' allowances could be cut

9:20am Wednesday 4th July 2012 in Bradford Photograph of the Author By Jo Winrow, City Hall Reporter

Council leader David Green Council leader David Green

A review of Bradford councillors’ allowances is recommending changes in the amounts paid to some members who take on additional responsibilities, which are expected to save around £115,000 a year.

The changes include: l reducing the special responsibility allowance paid to the executive’s portfolio holders by £1,795 l cutting the amount paid to the leader and deputy of the third largest group, the Liberal Democrats, by around £5,380 l calculating the amount paid to the chief whips of the three main parties based on the size of their group and therefore their workload. This would see a reduction of £7,165 in the amount paid to the Lib Dems’ chief whip, £2,364 less to the Conservatives’ chief whip and £46 more to Labour’s chief whip.

Other proposed changes include: l merging the Bradford and Shipley licensing panels with the licensing committee l merging the Shipley and Keighley planning panels l scrapping the allowance for the deputy chairman of the licensing committee, a position which currently affords an extra £7,180.

The independent review panel also recommends that officers take on the job of the Employee Appeals Panel, allowing the allowance of £2,513 for each member to be scrapped.

The allowance for the chairman of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Panel would also be cut by £5,384.

Meanwhile the chairman of the Council’s new-style standards committee would receive a special responsibility allowance of £3,464 as was paid to the formerly independent chairman of the old committee.

The changes are contained in a report to a full meeting of Bradford Council scheduled for Tuesday, July 10.

The report states: “The current Bradford allowances scheme by no means over-rewards Bradford councillors.

“The Bradford basic allowance is in line with or lower than that of comparable councils.

“Bradford special responsibility allowances are also, if anything, below those available in other councils.”

The Council has budgeted for cutting £100,000 from members’ allowances.

Leader of the Council, Councillor David Green, said all parties would be considering the recommendations of the report and would be offering their suggestions at the meeting next week.

The meeting takes place at City Hall from 4pm.

Comments(20)

Thee Voice of Reason says...
9:43am Wed 4 Jul 12

I notice this is one of the last places the Councillors have looked to cut expenditure. For the last 2 years everything else has been cut so they could hang on to these overpaid allowances for aslong as possible.

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Albion. says...
10:56am Wed 4 Jul 12

Thee Voice of Reason wrote:
I notice this is one of the last places the Councillors have looked to cut expenditure. For the last 2 years everything else has been cut so they could hang on to these overpaid allowances for aslong as possible.
As yet this is only a recommendation, but it's still a good move be it late or not.

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shavenmollusc says...
11:29am Wed 4 Jul 12

What are your thoughts on this one beardedclam?

On second thoughts don't bother us with your inane drool you sausage jockey

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Dragon Saddle says...
11:40am Wed 4 Jul 12

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

We should have less Councillors, with more power, and properly staffed, not lower paid ones. One per ward would be sensible. That would save hundreds of thousands not this chicken feed, and we might actually get this City moving.

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room124 says...
11:42am Wed 4 Jul 12

No mention then of the additional highly lucrative, yet non-declared, payments made to Councillors sitting on "outside bodies" such as the Fire, Police and Transport Authorities.

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Joedavid says...
11:51am Wed 4 Jul 12

Do they still pay Union officials from Council money?

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
12:13pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Joedavid wrote:
Do they still pay Union officials from Council money?
To the tune of £1/4m I'm led to believe.

Still labour aren't going to go upsetting their paymasters are they?

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Mo Bradford says...
12:21pm Wed 4 Jul 12

This will be a drop in the ocean for Bradford but better late than never. I dont feel councillors deserve the pay they get as they do very little. When a person contacts a councillor in their ward he/she would always get the same old excuses about cuts and budgets and get fobbed off. Also I would suggest 2 councillors per ward as maximum.....

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room124 says...
1:10pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Why have any Councillors at all? You raise an issue with them and they simply pass it on to the relevant Council official. Why not just go direct to that official; that's what they're paid for after all. And if we need a democratically elected and accountable person/s to ultimately hold Council officials to account, as surely we must, then elect a Mayor and/or Chief Executive.

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BertSanders says...
1:13pm Wed 4 Jul 12

What sort of disciplines are placed on Councillors - the performance of the Council seems really doubtful - the roads are disastrous and their main efforts are on parks around the City Hall for them to look out to.
Planning seem absolutely third world - lets pack as many in as possible - and almost anything goes. They do not earn a lot but they have staff who do not appear to have a sense of direction from Councillors.
Bradford is good on routine - bins, benefits etc but it is a miserable looking place with little imagination.
For what they do Councillors are well rewarded and they too should contribute to essential savings.

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room124 says...
1:53pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Council officials have plenty of direction; they have strategic plans, corporate delivery plans, action plans, master plans, sustainability plans etc. etc. It's just that nobody bothers to read them...or if they do, they get half way through page 1 yawn and then file it, in the bin.

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
2:14pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Tony Reeves gets paid £200k, surely he coulds survive on half of that, after all he is nowhere value for money, there £100k of saving, infact why do we need him there is £200k worth of savings, kick out Barra too and then remove the union fees paid by the council and you've freed up about £600k.

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a reasonable sort of chap says...
2:22pm Wed 4 Jul 12

This is just penny-pinching, and will result in a less effective service.

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
4:02pm Wed 4 Jul 12

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:
This is just penny-pinching, and will result in a less effective service.
Less effective service. We currently get close to no service, so it can really get any less.

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BRADFORD ANGEL says...
4:36pm Wed 4 Jul 12

we have three councillors in Great Horton ward we have never seen Mr John Derek Goddward may be he has gone away on all expenses holiday paid for by us taxpayers.

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Mik_e says...
7:17pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Don't know if this is accurate, but a well informed friend told me that Councillors can attend several council meetings at different locations in the same day, merely show up there for a few minutes and then move on to another meeting at a different venue and claim expenses/allowances for each meeting without actually doing anything, making a tidy sum as a result. If correct this is a clear abuse of the system ?

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bradmat says...
11:56pm Wed 4 Jul 12

I think its time those councillors did something about the smell wafting into the city centre from hammerton street. Wont attract shoppers and business with that

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spinnekop says...
4:53am Thu 5 Jul 12

bradmat wrote:
I think its time those councillors did something about the smell wafting into the city centre from hammerton street. Wont attract shoppers and business with that
bradmat,

That will be the abattoir then?

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wobbley-bob says...
8:27am Thu 5 Jul 12

spinnekop wrote:
bradmat wrote:
I think its time those councillors did something about the smell wafting into the city centre from hammerton street. Wont attract shoppers and business with that
bradmat,

That will be the abattoir then?
No, that will be Waddingtons rendering plant.

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Mo Bradford says...
8:51am Thu 5 Jul 12

room124 wrote:
Why have any Councillors at all? You raise an issue with them and they simply pass it on to the relevant Council official. Why not just go direct to that official; that's what they're paid for after all. And if we need a democratically elected and accountable person/s to ultimately hold Council officials to account, as surely we must, then elect a Mayor and/or Chief Executive.
Well said, we can go direct as our local councillors cannot even get the basics right for us, for example the blocked gutters, tipping in the area, street lights not working, high speeding cars in local streets. Yet they state they attend meetings but nothing gets done about these issues. Its a matter of them being blind folded until the elections arrive and then they are your best friends! And they make a list of all the things they say they will do! Heard it all before, politicians all the same, who needs them.

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