Tories vote for 18% pay rise - For Themselves

Conservative councillors on North

Herts District Council last week (11/11/2010) voted to increase district

councillors pay by 18%, with the leader of the council rising by a whopping

68%.

Although council services in the

region will need to be cut by £1.5 million over the following year they decided

to push ahead with the pay-rise regardless. Although an independent panel had

suggested that councilors were in line for a pay rise, councillors were under

no obligation to push for any increase. 

With some local authority staff

being given no choice but to accept a pay ‘freeze’, I wonder if an independent

review would ‘suggest’ that they were in line for a pay rise also?

Liberal Democrat Bearton Ward

Councillor Lisa Courts said, "With the council implementing massive cuts

across all services I find this self-centred pay-rise totally unacceptable. As

our residents make tough financial sacrifices during these uncertain economic

times, I would have hoped Tory councilors would 

have recognised this and decided to vote with Lib-Dem councillors to

postpone any pay increase.

I’ve heard that the Conservatives

are arguing that any suggestion that this is a pay-rise is incorrect, but quite

simply it clearly is."

They have also argued that if the

pay was better it would also encourage more people into local politics – but

money should never be the driving force behind someone’s desire to represent

Hitchin residents. It is certainly not the reason I got involved with local

politics. I wanted to make a positive difference.”

It is time that Councillors

started putting their residents first and tighten their belts like the rest of

us.  Hitchin People have contacted

Hitchin’s MP, Peter Lilley requesting his comments on the recent pay rise,

however he has not responded to this request.