Jane Scott, leader of Wiltshire Council, “has made the correct moral decision” not to accept new personal allowances totalling £52,227 in the wake of council staff redundancies and austerity cuts.
But she will cause “utter confusion” today (Tuesday) by voting against a motion proposed by Independent Councillor Jeff Osborn rescinding all personal allowances agreed by the Tory-controlled council last November.
In his speech, councillor Osborn refers to a confrontation on BBC Wiltshire radio last month when Jane Scott rejected a plea from Eric Pickles, the Communities and Local Government Secretary of State, not to take the 37 percent allowance increases.
Mrs Scott had said then it was the only honest action she could take. Yet she had already made the decision not to do so, her U-turn subsequently discovered by a Freedom of Information request made by a local newspaper, a fact that now confounded the situation, and something she finally admitted in another Wiltshire radio interview last week.
“I felt sorry for her,” declared Councillor Osborn. “The interviewer definitely gave her a hard time, trying to fathom out her U-turn. It seemed that over Christmas she had been through a long hard dark night of the soul before making the significant choice of personally forgoing her increase.”
He went on: “Yet the leader’s decision presents us with considerable difficulty. For though she has personally forgone her increase, she has also said that she will still vote against rescission (a legal phrase meaning ‘unmaking’).
“That means, I guess, the Conservative group will be under orders to follow. This gives the council a very real problem. Put mildly, it creates a situation of utter confusion.
“People do not understand what is going on. Are the increases morally right or wrong?
“The only real and true way to avoid confusion and take inspiration from the leader’s bold decision, is for all of us to stop, think and consciously vote for rescission. This will put the whole vexed issue of members’ allowances on hold for a year.
“Then we can return and deal with it calmly and rationally. So please move on from confusion and conflict — and move on together.”
Councillor Osborn pointed out: “For if we reject this rescission motion today, the policy on members’ increases still stands. Some Cabinet members and others may individually follow the Leader’s example and forgo their increase. Others may not.”
And he concluded: “Some members may not like it, but the only real way to move forward together and avoid confusion is for all of us to vote for rescission.
“This would demonstrate true leadership and set a clear moral example for ordinary folk out there. It would be for the benefit of the Council and restore our trust with the people of Wiltshire.
Have courage. Vote for rescission.”
The decision on the vote will be announced later.
