CCBC costs and cutting

[viv]

On top of that, Conwy Councillors also get paid handsomely  - some are worth it, others are just hangers on and don't do a lot for their money. Extra payments for being on Committees particularly if they are the Chair. Plus the expenses that they claim too. And the Cabinet members get even more with their "portfolios" which has the effect of pushing the other councillors down to "also ran" status, much to their annoyance. And are these Cabinet individuals all experts in their subjects? Like hell they are -all political appointments. And we are supposed to be a democracy. Democracy my a**e! When are they going to have their salaries cut? Nice work if you can get it!

[SteveH]

Would be nice to see list of individual's total payments for a year.

[Fester]

All this talk of cutting fundamental services, and also increasing Council Tax bills.

Yet, CCBC will spend MY money on a public fireworks display.   How can this be justified?   

[Ian]

Yet, CCBC will spend MY money on a public fireworks display.   How can this be justified?

The justification for public FW displays is and always has been the safety argument. By having large displays they hope fewer people will do their own, which is where some horrendous accidents take place.

The point you made about the six-figure salaries in CCBC is interesting. If we could get detailed figures (and why not?) then we could see where serious savings could be made. But what we really need, of course, is the same legislation that Switzerland and many US states have for voting down unpopular tax increases. Wonder if any politician would be prepared to champion such a cause?

[Yorkie]

All this talk of cutting fundamental services, and also increasing Council Tax bills.

Yet, CCBC will spend MY money on a public fireworks display.   How can this be justified?   

The Firework Display is organised by the Town Council and funded from the Annual Precept they receive which is a few ££££'s per head of the population to run the Council, its services and for local Grants.
 ZXZ

[dingo20]

I agree about the tramway I always think you could run a Christmas tram and have a santas grotto at the summit. If I rang the tram I would have a conductor who could sell trinkets to a captive audience maybe ice creams in the summer

[SteveH]

The TaxPayers' Alliance is Britain's independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes

We have collated the information for every local authority in the UK for both 2010-11 and 2011-12 so that the public can see what their locally elected representatives are paid for the role, which many have viewed historically as a voluntary position.
The councils paying the highest basic allowance to councillors (by type of authority)
Welsh Council – Seven councils pay £13,868, namely Bridgend, Carmarthenshire, Conwy, Monmouthshire, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, and Vale of Glamorgan
Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
 “With local authorities up and down the country having to rein in spending and many public sector staff facing a pay freeze, those councillors who have awarded themselves an increase in their allowances in defiance of government advice should hang their heads in shame. They cannot retain the moral authority to make tough decisions on council spending if they believe their own allowances should be immune. Many taxpayers will be surprised at how much the amount paid varies from one council to the next. Why do Manchester councillors each need nearly £16,000 per year when their counterparts in neighbouring Trafford happily carry out their duties for barely £6,000? Local people should be able to see how much cash their councillors are taking in allowances and compare the cost with nearby councils. This kind of transparency will allow them to decide for themselves whether they are getting good value for money.”

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/2012/08/taxpayers-alliance-reveals-highest-lowest-paid-councillors-uk.html

Low pay is deterring many people who are thinking of becoming a local councillor, a report by MPs has said.
The Local Government Select Committee said councillors had a right to expect an "appropriate level of compensation".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20967913

[SteveH]

Bridgend County Borough      http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/web/groups/public/documents/democracy/016085.hcsp
Found this very informative

Councillors Remuneration 
Remuneration is paid according to the findings of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) which sets out the levels for councillor payments in Wales. Councillors are not paid for attending meetings but receive a salary to reimburse them for the time and expenses incurred whilst on Council business. Members can also claim travel allowance for attendance at approved duties, the current rate is 45p per mile reducing to 25p per mile after 10,000 miles. To view the full Members’ Remuneration Scheme
Basic salary payable to all Members not receiving a senior or civic salary:£13,300
Leader  £48,000
Deputy Leader   £33,500
Cabinet Members   £29,000
Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Committees   £22,000
Chairperson of Planning and Development Committee  £22,000
Chairpersons of committees listed below:    £22,000
Appeals Panel
Audit Committee
Licensing Committee
Leader of the largest opposition group  £22,000
Civic Salaries
Civic Head (Mayor)  £21,500
Deputy Civic Head (Deputy Mayor)   £16,000
Statutory co-optees
Chairperson of Standards Committee
£256 Daily Fee
£128 ½ Day Fee
Chairperson of Audit Committee (if they are a co-optee or Lay Member)
£256 Daily Fee
£128 ½ Day Fee
Statutory co-optees with voting rights – Standards Committee, Education OVSC, Audit Committee, Crime and Disorder OVSC
£198 Daily Fee
£99 ½ Day Fee
Statutory co-optees with voting rights – ordinary members of Standards Committee who also chair Standards Committees for Community Councils
£226 Daily Fee
£113 ½ Day Fee
Members Eligible to receive care allowance
of £403 per month
Last Updated: 15/07/2014
http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/web/groups/public/documents/democracy/016085.hcsp

[Yorkie]

WTF has Bridgend got to do with us?   WWW

[SteveH]

WTF has Bridgend got to do with us?   WWW

I do not know a lot about local politics, and as you know, I search for info....Bridgend came up, as the only council I could find with a (IRPW) based financial breakdown and "transparency", and I was surprised by the difference in the basic salary of £13,300 and the other salaries up to £48,000 plus "daily rates", bearing in mind that their might be others in a similar ignorant state, I thought I would share my info. so thats WTF I put it on here.  WWW   

[SteveH]

Llandudno’s aerial ladder has already been lost....
"There are 1,700 tall buildings in Llandudno which are on a list which stipulates an ALP should attend if fire breaks out in them."
What's next....

228 firefighter jobs at risk in north Wales budget review

More than 220 firefighters' jobs could be lost in north Wales if its funding is not increased by £3.3m over the next five years, bosses have warned.

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority said years of cuts mean core services may be hit in the future.
A range of options include axing 228 jobs and closing seven retained fire stations and removing engines, leaving areas without local part-time support.
The authority is funded from councils via residents' council tax payments.
However, it says its near £32m budget has changed little in the last five years although council tax payments have increased.
It says this has already led to cuts of £2.4m (£800,000 annually since 2010/11) to pay for "unavoidable cost increases"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-29739597

This is one cut, we can do without....

[SteveH]

Conwy Council needs to find £37m savings over three years

A local authority faces having to make “eyewatering” savings of £37m in the next three years, a finance chief warned today.

But it has already found £6.8m savings towards cuts to be made for the financial year starting next April.

The Welsh Government’s provisional grant for Conwy Council for 2015-2016 has been cut by 4.3%, the joint third biggest reduction of Wales’s 22 local authorities.

Andrew Kirkham, Conwy’s finance chief, said the authority will need to make an “eyewatering” total of £37m savings by 2017-2018.

The authority expects to need to find £16m savings in 2015-2016, £12m in 2016-2017 and £9m in 2017-2018.

But in a presentation to a full Conwy Council meeting at Bodlondeb, Mr Kirkham said: “The general ‘mood music’ within Conwy is ‘keep calm and don’t panic’, although everybody acknowledges that difficult decisions will need to be made.”

The shortfall could be made up of efficiency cuts and savings, but not “slashing and burning”, he said.

“All 22 authorities face price pressures, expectations of service demands, an aging population and increasingly we are coping with the Welsh Government’s (insistence) that we protect schools,” added Mr Kirkham.
But Cllr Dave Cowans, a former finance spokesman, denied Conwy would copy Isle of Anglesey County Council’s decision to offer its entire 3,300-strong workforce voluntary redundancy to balance its books. It was “not the way forward in terms of relations”, he said.
The meeting heard Conwy still has the fourth lowest Band D council tax in Wales at £964.89 a year.

Cllr Phil Edwards, Conwy’s new social care and housing spokesman, wondered if a lower settlement grant was due to Conwy’s low council tax.
ut a Welsh Government spokesman said: “The distribution of the funding reflects the population within each authority, the number of pupils, the length of roads and the number of properties in the different council tax bands, sparsity and deprivation.”

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/conwy-council-needs-find-37m-7989552#rlabs=5

[SteveH]

Should Welsh Ministers ditch their chauffeur-driven Volvos? Opposition demand scrapping the Ministerial fleet after costs soar

Opposition figures have demanded the Welsh Government scraps its fleet of ministerial cars – after it was revealed it had cost more than £400,000 since the last election.

The Welsh Conservatives said ministers should follow Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb, who ditched the Wales Office’s Jaguar days after being appointed to replace David Jones last month.

Figures revealed in a written answer from the government revealed costs of buying, maintaining and running the fleet of 10 chauffeur-driven Volvo S80 saloons had soared by more than 50% in the past year to nearly £175,000.
But the Welsh Government said the Tories’ demands betrayed a “complete lack of understanding” about the workings of government.
It comes after Mr Crabb elected to ditch his £100,000-a-year, taxpayer-funded Jaguar limousine days after becoming Secretary of State for Wales last month.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/should-welsh-ministers-ditch-chauffeur-driven-7665022#rlabs=5

[Micox]

I could give you the Norfolk figures but you'd only get more bored than you are. 

[Yorkie]

We get too many figures and statistics on the Forum for my liking!