16.5% increase to WBC councillor basic allowance Options

[Simon Kirby]

This article says that a recommendation to increase the WBC councillor allowance by 16.5% is to be voted on next week.

The current basic allowance is £6,285 and the proposal is to increase that to £7,324, with an additional cost to the tax-payer of £54k. That's offset a little by the abolition of a £200 broadband allowance and a £200 IT consumables allowance, but as only one in four councillors claim that it's not a big saving.

That does seem to be an excessively generous increase for a job that, in my view, should be done without reward for the public benefit. I accept that an allowance to cover necessary expenses is appropriate, but at a guess I'd have thought a tenth of that allowance was adequate.

[user23]

Don't forget, in South Oxfordshire you also have Oxfordshire County Councillors too.

[On the edge]

Don't forget, in South Oxfordshire you also have Oxfordshire County Councillors too.

Umm a bit like us then, WBC pretending to be a County Council and Newbury Town pretending to be a Borough. All part of our 'let's pretend' democracy.

[user23]

Umm a bit like us then, WBC pretending to be a County Council and Newbury Town pretending to be a Borough. All part of our 'let's pretend' democracy.

Not really, because there's also another level in Oxfordshire, for example Didcot Town Council which is equivalent to Newbury Town Council.

[On the edge]

Not really, because there's also another level in Oxfordshire, for example Didcot Town Council which is equivalent to Newbury Town Council.

Ah, but that pretends to be a residents association. Remember, we still have a 'ceremonial' Royal County of Berkshire (bet that doesn't come gratis!) so it ain't dead yet.

Berkshire Authorities Joint Planning Strategic Unit not closed down yet by any chance?

[user23]

Ah, but that pretends to be a residents association. Remember, we still have a 'ceremonial' Royal County of Berkshire (bet that doesn't come gratis!) so it ain't dead yet.

Yes, and there's a Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire too, similar to that in Berkshire.

There are no Berkshire County councillors similar to Oxfordshire though.

West Berkshire councillors perform the roles of both the separate District and County that they have north of the border.

Any comparison with a District, needs to consider the County too.

[On the edge]

Yes, and there's a Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire too, similar to that in Berkshire.

There are no Berkshire County councillors similar to Oxfordshire though.

West Berkshire councillors perform the roles of both the separate District and County that they have north of the border.

Any comparison with a District, needs to consider the County too.

If only they did! That's just the point, the former County functions are either still there as a joint operation (such as the Strategic Planning Unit) acting as a local quango, or dispensed stand alone agencies like the Fire and Rescue service. As for schools, most are now self managed.
Arguably, much the same has happened at the other levels - most of the functions hived off. So in effect, we are paying far more to Councillors who are doing far less.