Labour Halves Mayoral Allowance For Brighton And Hove Party Post

Opposition councillors have criticised Labour for halving the mayor’s allowance to pay a “special responsibility allowance” to the holder of a political post – the party’s chief whip.

They said that it ignored the recommendations of the independent panel that reviewed the basic allowances for members of Brighton and Hove City Council as well as additional payments for those with special responsibilities.

The panel’s recommendations were vote on yesterday (Thursday 22 May) at the annual council meeting at Hove Town Hall, along with the amendment proposed by Labour.

The basic allowance was unchanged at £14,218 a year, subject to indexed increases, but opposition councillors criticised the halving of the mayor’s allowance to fund an allowance for the party whip.

It was previously £11,090 – or 30 per cent of the leader’s allowance of £36,967 – but was halved to 15 per cent so the whip could also receive an allowance worth 15 per cent.

Technically, councillors are not paid a salary but receive an allowance in recognition of the time that they volunteer to spend on their role.

The report to the council said:

“The role of mayor is highly visible across the council area and continues to undertake a high number of civic engagements that raise the profile of the council and this is reflected in the current allowance.

“The panel was of the view that the mayoral allowance should continue to be at the same percentage of the leader’s allowance, 30 per cent.”

The Labour leader of the council, Bella Sankey, proposed dividing the allowance between the mayor and the chief whip – and this was voted through because Labour has a big majority.

Councillor Sankey said that the amendment was “cost-neutral” while recognising the significant role of the chief whip. She said that this was something that other councils already did.

She said:

“We do feel strongly that the role of the chief whip is important to recognise as a special responsibility because of the significant role the chief whip of the largest party plays in supporting council business.

“As amended, I believe the scheme will be fair and proportionate.”

Former mayor and Green councillor Pete West said that he wondered why the council had consulted the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) if Labour just wanted to “pick and choose” from the recommendations.

Councillor West said:

“The reason why the IRP was introduced was to stop the annual spectacle of councillors deciding their own allowances which gave the public the impression of self-serving politicians acting like pigs at the trough.

“We now have a proposal from Labour to pay a position of chief whip which the IRP identified as party political. Of course it’s party political as the role is just for the Labour Party and not one serving the whole council.”

Fellow Green councillor Raphael Hill said:

“Special responsibility allowances shouldn’t be decided by the whims of councillors but by an independent entity to ensure faith in the way that we use this scarce public money.

“I can appreciate the Labour group needs to give money to the chief whip as their chief whip will have their work cut out for them keeping Labour councillors in line while the Labour government continues to attack the most vulnerable members of our society and is nose-diving in the polls as it panders to fascism.”

Councillor Hill asked the six former mayors in the chamber to consider the impact they had in the role.

Conservative leader Alistair McNair said that it was no surprise that Labour was giving its own senior councillors a substantial rise.

Councillor McNair said:

“Councillors should be paid. It’s important work and we should attract people from walks of life. But is it right that there should be pay increases in this economic climate?

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Labour, it’s they love a pay rise. The trouble is all this spending on pay rises is leading to a big black hole for the nation’s finances.”

Former Labour councillor Bruno De Oliveira, who now sits as an Independent after leaving the party over cuts to international aid, voted against the rise.

Councillor De Oliveira spoke of his “utter disappointment” and said:

“I really get the hard work of members.

“But deep down some of you might be very uneasy to know that out there are people, especially disabled people, who are facing cuts to their benefits coming from the top.

“There are people who spent the winter freezing because they had the winter allowance cut. Overseas there are children who do not have food because cuts to foreign aid have been made.

“I’m not afraid to stand as one lonely voice but I cannot really believe that deep down some of my colleagues think this is a good decision.”

The Independent Remuneration Panel recommended increasing special responsibility allowances for cabinet members to £14,787 – or 40 per cent of the leader’s allowance. It was previously 35 per cent.

The total cost of allowances is £1,062,000 for the coming year, an increase of £14,000.