COUNCILLORS in Douglas have voted in favour of awarding themselves a 33 per cent pay rise.
And Douglas Council leader David Christian has hit out at the ‘gutter press’ for ‘whipping up hysteria’ against the proposal for local politicians to claim a higher rate of expenses for attending meetings.
He pointed that there had been no increase since 2006 – and he claimed local authorities were ‘discriminated’ against compared to members of numerous government ‘quangos’.
Councillors and commissioners can currently claim £30 each for attendance per meeting, compared to the £78 per session paid to non-Tynwald members who serve on bodies such as the Work Permit Appeal Tribunal, the Office of Fair Trading and the Education Council among others.
Douglas Council last week voted unanimously to support a proposal for members’ allowances to increase to a minimum of £40 per meeting.
Letters inviting members to examine whether their attendance allowance and travel expenses should increase were sent out last month by head of the Local Government Unit, Stephen Willoughby. Any increase would have to be met by the ratepayers.
But Infrastructure Minister David Cretney soon distanced himself from the suggestion, insisting it would ‘send out the wrong message to the public’.
Already Peel and Onchan have rejected the idea as ‘dreadful’, while Rushen, Port Erin and Malew have also dismissed the suggestion, insisting the timing is not right. But Port St Mary Commissioners have backed the move, insisting it will create a level playing field.
Proposing that Douglas Council should recommend an increase to a minimum of £40 per session in its response to the DOI’s consultation document, Mr Christian told a meeting of the authority: ‘Local authority members should be treated no different from the numerous government quangos set up over the years.
‘Why the discrimination? That’s what it comes down to.’
He hit out at some of the hysteria whipped up the headlines of the ‘gutter press’, whose aim he claimed had been: ‘Let’s whip it up into a frenzy’.
Mr Christian pointed out that having council meeting during the day meant taking time off work and claiming just £30 per session meant members were left out of pocket.
He said that while he had not entered local politics to make money, he believed the situation of members’ allowances was putting people off standing for election.
But Mr Christian said he did not support increasing the attendance allowance to the £78 on government bodies, insisting this was ‘over the top’.
And he criticised the Infrastructure Minister for having already appeared to have rejected any increase.
‘It seems to have been determined by the Minister. I wish he would wait until the consultation period has been concluded,’ he said.
Councillor Ritchie McNicholl described the council leader’s words as a ‘rousing speech’.
He said: ‘Nobody joined this council for the money. People who sit around this table do it for Douglas. Let us have recognition in some way for what we do here. It’s less than the minimum wage we get paid if you work it out.’
An increase to £78 would involve a substantial cost, the report by the assistant town clerk noted.
In a full year, if all members claimed for the full 120 sessions, it would cost £103,680 on top of the current year’s maximum of £64,800.
Mr Christian pointed out that not all members claim for the full 120 sessions.