Councillor Joanna Biddolph, speaking at the Hounslow Borough Council meeting on the council's budget, emphasised that all councillors must demonstrate to residents and business ratepayers that they are worth the increases in the members' allowances.
You can watch the debate on Hounslow council's YouTube channel. Cllr Biddolph's speech on fees and charges starts at 02.24.30 mins in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtXTARnc7So
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
This is, I think, the fifth time that I’ve stood up to talk about members’ allowances and I will be saying the same as I’ve said four times before. In a minute.
We have already agreed that members’ allowances should be increased in line with staff pay. I still agree with that.
The point, however, is that, whatever we receive, we must show our value to our residents and business ratepayers.
The basic allowance doesn’t reflect the workload of an engaged, hardworking, proactive councillor. To quote the council’s document, “It is intended to recognise the time commitment of all councillors, including calls on time such as meetings with officers and constituents and attendance at political groups”. It recognises time spent, it doesn’t recompense for time spent.
In my first year as a councillor, 2018, the magazine First, which we all receive, published a survey which found that cllrs spend an average of 22 hours a week on council business, eight of which are in meetings such as this one. For those of us with jobs, these hours are spent outside our own working lives.
A less busy councillor receives the same as the busiest councillor.
Even though it might be pennies per hour for some, many residents think it is still too much no matter how hard a councillor works. There is resentment among some that we receive anything for what we do.
Mr Mayor, that's why I’m standing here saying the same as before – we must all work hard to demonstrate value for money. This isn’t our money, it is our residents’ and our business ratepayers’ money. We must demonstrate to them that we are worth it.
