Local Lib Dem MP Norman Baker has today written to the leader of East Sussex County Council, Peter Jones, asking him and senior Council Cabinet members to agree to take a voluntary cut in their special responsibility allowances, as government Ministers have done, to set an example and help reduce the burden on public finances.
Prime Minister David Cameron recently secured unanimous Cabinet agreement for all members of the government, including Transport Minister Mr Baker, to take an immediate 5% pay cut as well as a freeze in pay until the end of the current parliament in 2015. It is estimated that the move will save the taxpayer around £300,000 in this year alone, and up to £3 million during the parliament.
Mr Baker has now written to Peter Jones asking him, and other senior Conservatives on the Council, to follow the government's lead and accept a cut of 5% of their allocated special responsibility allowance, to reflect the sacrifices government Ministers are being asked to make.
As an alternative, Mr Baker has suggested that Cabinet members could instead reduce their special responsibility allowances by £2,000, to mirror the cuts that have been made to opposition members' allowances.
East Sussex County Council recently decided to abolish special responsibility allowances for most opposition members for the 2010/11 financial year. As a result of the decision to abolish the payments, which were made to those who shadowed Cabinet members, several members will lose over £2,000 in allowance payments based on 2009/10 payments.
However, senior members of the Council Cabinet have received increases in their special responsibility allowances for the 2010/11 financial year. Mr Jones, for example, will receive £24,087 in his allocated special responsibility allowance as Leader of the Council - an increase of 2% on last year.
Norman Baker commented:
"In these times of economic difficulty, it is only right that those who are paid by the taxpayer should be asked to make some sacrifices. The government has led the way in doing this, and I am happy to have agreed to a 5% pay cut and a pay freeze until 2015 in my capacity as a government Minister.
"Nationally, we are working together as partners in a coalition, and I would like to see the same kind of collaboration on a local level in East Sussex. It seems to me only fair that senior Conservatives on the County Council should accept their share of the cuts that have to be made. I am therefore calling on them to volunteer to cut their special responsibility allowances, to match either the sacrifices that opposition members of the Council or government Ministers have been asked to make.
"It is clear that cuts in public spending have to be made. If cuts are to be made to frontline services, then elected members must share the burden and accept a small reduction in their allowances. I hope that Peter Jones and other senior Members of the Cabinet will recognise that the middle of a recession is hardly an appropriate time to accept raised allowances at the taxpayer's expense, and that all parties must focus on working together in the public interest."
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Contact Norman at:
Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
