Councillor slams £815k allowances

GRAVY TRAIN . . . Ken Hulme

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Oldham councillors who claimed over £815,000 in allowances last year should get off the gravy train, according to outspoken critic Ken Hulme.

The latest list of councillors’ allowances and expenses, for 2008/09 published this week, show that 60 councillors, plus some who lost their seats in May last year, claimed £815,117 in basic allowances and special responsibility payments.

They also claimed £3,341 expenses for subsistence and travel, and the cost of the mayor and his deputy was also £15,580.

Saddleworth Parish Councillor Ken Hulme, who called for all allowances and expenses to be published after the public outrage at how much MPs at Westminster are pocketing from dubious expense claims, says the payments should be drastically cut.

Councillor Hulme, a former Camden councillor, said: “Certainly for back benchers, in terms of the quality and amount of work they do it is just not justified.

“Since the cabinet system came in the responsibility and workload is much less than it used to be.

“I don’t believe people can go back to their constituents and justify this.”

But Tory councillor John Hudson, who has had several spells on the back benches, said: “The amounts don’t reflect taxes paid, and the amount of time, telephone calls, and petrol, especially if you don’t live in the ward.

“As a back bencher, a lot of work is done in committee and on visits that are not seen. There may be some people working harder than others, that is always going to be the case.

“People who put themselves forward for a council seat, and that includes parish councillor Hulme, have never made this complaint before. It smacks of sour grapes.”

And Liberal Democrat Christine Wheeler added: “Today I’ve had an extremely light day, but it involved going to visit a children’s home, going to a meeting about planning, and seeing someone about a planning application, making three phone calls, and speaking to someone about a problem when they stopped me in the street.

“As for the spending on the leader and the cabinet, I think the public gets them extremely cheaply. The amount of time they put in is amazing.”

Oldham’s allowances were set by an independent panel in 2007 and run until 2010. They include a basic allowance of £8,500 which goes to every councillor.

There are special responsibility allowances for the council leader, Councillor Howard Sykes, of £25,500, his deputy Jackie Stanton (£16,575), and the Labour opposition leader Jim McMahon (£12,750.

Cabinet members also get £12,750, and committee chairmen for planning, licensing and scrutiny boards get £7,650.

Other allowances go to community champions, vice-chairmen, shadow cabinet members and minority opposition leaders.

The scale of allowances are available publicly on the Council’s website.

Individual expenses are outlined on the table below