It seems incredible, but someone at Cornwall Council wants to argue the toss yet again about putting up councillors' allowances. A paper in the name of the Leader of the Council Alex Robertson before Full Council next Tuesday includes a proposal for a 2.3% rise. I cannot believe that this will do anything but lower the reputation of councillors and the Council among the public.
At the start of the new Cornwall Council, we debated allowances. The Lib Dems argued for a freeze in all allowances for the duration of the council (ie 4 years). The Conservatives and Independents said no, we needed a formal review.
Fast forward to just before the election and the results of the review were back. The Lib Dems again argued the case for a freeze for the remainder of the life of the council. The Conservatives and Independents decided that the freeze should only be for a year. Some suggested that they just wanted to get the election out of the way.
Just six months later and we have yet another proposal to raise allowances. The excuse appears to be that an organisation in London has decided to increase an amount that they pay to councillors. Why this should mean that Cornwall should waste time debating the subject now is beyond me.
At a time when Cornwall Council is having to cut significant amounts from its budget, it is quite wrong to even consider the issue of councillors' allowances and we should dismiss this proposal with the contempt it deserves.
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