The basic Brent councillor allowance and special allowances will not be increased this year in line with the pay freeze in the public sector.
Meanwhile the Conservatives in their Alternative Budget have suggested a new allowance range and the deletion of two Cabinet positions. LINK
Conservative proposals. Note the SRAs (Special Responsibility Allowances) are in addition to the Basic Allowance.
Basic Allowance (all Members): £10,000.00
Leader SRA: £30,000.00
Deputy Leader SRA: £20,000
Cabinet Member SRA :£20,000 and delete x 2 cabinet posts
Opposition Leader SRA: £8,000
All other SRAS to remain at current level.
The 3 person Conservative Group also make the following proposal which includes a smaller Council Tax rise than Labour's 4.99%:
Well,
ReplyDeleteit's reasonable to suggest that this proposal won't be one that will be welcomed by all Cllrs.
Did the Conservatives provide this table? The figures do not add up. For a start that "Reduce Members Allowances" 0.2 should be in brackets.
ReplyDeleteThe proposed increase in Council Tax by 2.99% should generate extra Council Tax Income of around £3.8 to £3.9 million so not sure why only £2.6 million is shown.
Just in case anyone is confused all the figures in the column are millions of pounds.
They are of course accepting the 2.99% rise which equates to the extra burden placed on Council Tax payers by the Conservative Government.
The table does not add up. The 1st line is also wrong as a 2.99% Council Tax they propose will generate closer to £3.9 million and NOT £2.6 million. This equates to the Tory Government shift of paying for 'social care' onto the Council Tax as in previous years and now means that cumulatively local taxpayers are now burdened by £11 million in total this year.
ReplyDeleteThe New Home Bonus varies year by year and depends on number of Units built. It cannot be "built into a base budget" as it may not be the same figure next year.
The table is copied and pasted from ther Conservative Motion that is on the agenda poapers for the Council Meeting. Any errors are theirs.
ReplyDeleteI have rechecked. Their presentation is highly confusing but this is not surprising as the way the Budget information is presented is also very confusing. There is not enough detailed information to enable members of the public to fully understand what the Council is spending its money on.
ReplyDeleteIn the Conservatives provided table the figures without brackets represent reductions in Income (so if you raise the Council Tax by 2.99% rather than 4.99% you lose £2.6 million in Income). The figures in brackets are reductions in expenditure. The £(0.9) for New Build Bonus represents a Conservative proposal to pay the money into Revenue rather than Capital - and is a one off (the description is misleading but it helps them to make the Revenue proposal to balance). The table still does not add up as the £0.2 for Members Allowances is a reduction in expenditure and should be in brackets.
These kind of errors happen when you try to do something as complicated as a Council Budget on the back of a 'fag packet'.