COUNCILLORS in South Oxfordshire have voted themselves a 58 per cent allowance hike in a move labelled yesterday as “staggeringly immoral”.

An independent panel had reviewed what councillors receive in return for their work on South Oxfordshire District Council and recommended their £2,900 basic allowance should rise by 21 per cent.

But on Thursday night councillors instead voted through a rise almost triple that – 58 per cent – to mean they will receive £4,575 a year. And John Cotton’s remuneration for being leader is going up by almost 82 per cent to £18,151.

Didcot councillor Margaret Davies – who voted against the rise and promised to donate the extra cash to charity – said it painted South Oxfordshire in a “poor light”, while the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the councillors should “hang their heads in shame”.

Mr Cotton defended the move, saying there had not been an increase for eight years and the new total was one of the lowest in the South East.

In addition to the 36 councillors’ basic allowance, and the leader’s £18,151, cabinet members will be eligible for £8,470 each and other key positions also get an extra stipend.

If all councillors claimed all their new allowances it would cost the council about £250,000 a year. Last year’s allowances bill cost the taxpayer £198,000 – but that was for 48 councillors before the number of representatives was cut by a quarter to 36.

Mrs Davies said: “It is staggeringly immoral and paints the council in a poor light.

“Increasing the leader’s allowance to that level is appalling and I have already received an email from one of my constituents objecting to it, who said it was disgusting.

“It’s just too rich – it’s that extra cream on top of the cake. John Cotton will now get more than £22,000 a year – that’s close to the average wage.”

Twenty-six councillors voted for the hike, two voted against and one abstained. Five councillors were absent from Thursday’s meeting, and the chairman and vice chairman do not vote by convention.

Chalgrove councillor David Turner abstained from voting, but said he would take the full amount.

 

So how did your councillor vote on whether to give themselves a 58% allowance rise?

Posted by Oxford Mail Interactive Graphics on Saturday, May 23, 2015

He said: “The increase is long overdue, it’s just that this was too much at once.

“We could have done it over a longer period.”

In addition to this allowance, two SODC members – David Nimmo Smith and Kevin Bulmer – are also on Oxfordshire County Council and last year voted to increase their basic allowance by 19 per cent from £8,376 to £10,000.

Mr Cotton justified the hike by saying his council’s allowance was still one of the lowest in the country.

He said: “Over the last 12 years we have consistently rejected increases in our allowances. There have only been two increases in that time, the last eight years ago.”

However, if the council had increased the basic members’ allowance in line with inflation over the past eight years, it is estimated that the allowance would now be at £3,425.

Oxford Mail:
For: District council leader John Cotton, right

Mr Cotton added: “We have to make sure that the allowances available in no way put off people who would like to be on the council and have to take time out of their day to do it.

“The allowances need to reflect that level.”

He also said that because of the reduction in the number of councillors this year from 48 to 36, the move would be covered by the council’s contingency budget and taxpayers would not be affected.

Just two weeks ago, 130 people stood for election to the council.

TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive Jonathan Isaby said: “The councillors who voted through these hikes in their own allowances should hang their heads in shame.

“At a time when the council has to make savings, and other public sector staff are feeling the squeeze of stagnant wages, it is utterly incredible for elected representatives to choose to increase their allowance by so much.

“When it looks like politicians are feathering their own nests while making tough decisions on public service delivery, it is little wonder that taxpayers feel that they are so out of touch.”

Mr Bulmer, from Goring, did not respond to an Oxford Mail request for comment.