In a rare cross-party move the leaders of the three political leaders on Brent Council have written to the Chancellor outlining the desperate financial situation of the council, as the budget crisis facing all local authorities intensifies.
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So, as forecast previously, the London Borough of B~ent is heading for bankruptcy.
• Too many primary school places
• Spiralling private rents
• Too much student accommodation paying no council tax
• Too much Council borrowing
• Too many mistakes such as Morlands and Grenville new homes
• Councillor allowances too high
• Excessive pay for the Council's senior management
• An unnecessary Brent Mayor
• Borrowing over £20 million to repair pavements
• Borrowing £3 million for Civic Centre upgrades
• Thousand spent on massive TV screen is the Civic Centre
• Thousands thrown at the Bridge Park ownership case to make money for a property developer
• etc
• etc
• etc
Let's face it, B~ent Council's politicians are leading us to bankruptcy at an alarming pace. Yes, all those bright young things - One of the comments recently about student accomadation comes to mind again "Some of Labour's best councillors have emerged directly from student experiences, without any other work experiences showcasing the talent they have which was recognised by our residents. They have a good understanding the challenges faced by the younger demographic. Moreover, embracing student accommodation aligns with woke values by acknowledging the economic contribution students make to the local community" What dimwitt wrote that?
Maybe stop increasing allowances each year for councillors to save money.
As mentioned many times before, if Brent Council can't even get the Barham Park Trust Accounts correct how can we trust that they are getting the main Brent Council accounts correct???
Any Council that gives £17.8million of our NCIL money back to a multi-billion pound property developer must be questioned on how they are spending council tax payers money!
Would the leader of the Greens have signed this?
I would think so as this comes out of a cross-party approach via the Local Government Association = issued today: https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/lga-statement-provisional-local-government-finance-settlement
I suspect that the cross-party effort was probably suggested or encouraged by the Chief Executive. The Council Leader is not well known for a co-operative attitude towards other parties.
Does anyone actually realise how pitiful councillor basic allowance is? Maybe not the special allowances for additional roles, but the basic allowance is absolutely dire
On the most recent figures I have (2022/23), each Brent councillor receives a basic allowance of £12,484.80, so around £12.5k.
That is hardly a pitiful amount, although that would not be a "living wage" if it was your only income, and you were spending most or all of your time fulfilling your duties as a councillor. But how many backbench councillors, if any, are in that position?
Judging from some comments on recent blogs, there are Wards in Brent where none of the councillors answer emails from their residents. It is possible to just turn up for a few meetings a year (at least one every six months), not bother to do much preparation, simply put your hand up to vote as your party tells you to and collect your £12.5k a year. That WOULD be pitiful!
Philip Grant.
The allowance, is an allowance, as it is not meant for our representatives to treat it like a real full time job. They are meant to have other things going on in the world, so that they are representative of the communties they serve. It is meant to be a role explicitly not full time so that a diverse section of our society can do it. The councillors with any power, who are on portfolios etc get extra money. The majority do not do anything meaningful as they don’t have a say. So my answer would be, do as we all do if you need money, get a job.
Councillor allowances are generally daylight robbery. So many councillors do very little fr their residents. Also, the performance of many cabinet members is shameful.
Anonymous19 December 2023 at 13:38 says "Does anyone actually realise how pitiful councillor basic allowance is?" I dare say people on minimum wage and zero hours contracts wouldn't agree with that statement - these dedicated workers with life experience and budgeting skills are the people we need to run our council but they wouldn't get selected to stand as candidates because students straight out of university seem to be the preferred candidates.
How many cllrs are straight out of uni?
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