Wiltshire’s Tory council leader Jane Scott has capitulated under public and political pressure in the row over massive increases in her personal allowances and has decided not to accept them after all.
Her dramatic decision has been revealed in a Freedom of Information request and means that she has stepped back from receiving £52,227 – an increase from £37,335 backdated to the last council elections in May.
And it comes only days before a motion demanding that her increase of 37 per cent plus major increases her Cabinet colleagues be rescinded, which is due to be held at the council’s Trowbridge headquarters.
Councillor Scott would have been entitled to £12,289 for being a councillor, £30,772 for being council leader and £9,216 for being chairman of the health and wellbeing board but the FOI request by a local newspaper confirmed that she has now rejected the boost in allowances.
Independent councillor Jeff Osborn who launched the campaign against the allowances along with his colleague Terry Chivers, is delighted by the decision at a time of austerity and cutbacks in council staff.
But the rebel councillors are still likely to press forward with their motion to rescind the council’s November decision at the special council meeting, set for Tuesday, unless Councillor Scott issues a statement accepting such a move.
“I am so glad that Jane Scott and other elements of the Conservative leadership have seen the light,” Councillor Osborn told Marlborough News Online. “To an extent it was almost inevitable as public opinion was swelling up against her and her colleagues.
“Now let us hope they have learned the lesson during a time of austerity and we can leave the issue of personal allowances alone for at least a year.”
He believes that the support of the local government unions, who propose to lobby next week’s council meeting, was another factor in Jane Scott’s raise the white flag, especially after she rejected the plea of Eric Pickles the Secretary of State for Communities, not to take the increased allowance.
“What we need now is a statement from Jane Scott,” said Councillor Osborn. “If some members of her party still want to take the increased allowances then that shows a split in the party and undoubtedly undermines her leadership.
“But that is all speculation. We need to wait and see what happens next.”
The FOI request also revealed that Tory Councillor Laura Mayes, one of Devizes’ representatives, had refused half of her allowance increased and that Councillor Stewart Dobson, one of Marlborough’s two Wiltshire councillors, had done so too.
However, the basic councillor’s allowance went up by just one per cent – a rise of £122 — while those councillors who are members of the council’s Cabinet accepted allowances increases of at least 22 per cent, from £15,101 to £18,433 a year.
Marlborough’s Tory Councillor Stewart Dobson, who announced after the vote last November that he would not be taking the one per cent increase on offer to councillors.
“That was my personal decision and I made it quite clear,” he told Marlborough News Online, and added: “The situation has caused some public anxiety with people expressing their views about it.
“I know that Councillor Mark Connolly from Tidworth voted against it but it is news to me that Jane Scott has taken this decision.
“I do hold her in high esteem. She is a very capable lady and she does a fantastic job. She is worth the amount of money that was recommended.
“She does a very good job leading the council, but, obviously, it is a personal decision by her whether or not she takes the increase at this moment in time.”
Nick Fogg, Marlborough’s independent Wiltshire councillor, told Marlborough News Online: “I supported the increase because Jane Scott works very hard and it was recommended by an independent body.
But on reflection I wouldn’t have done that if I had known the reaction there has been. People have got quite upset on the issue and people matter in this context.
“I would certainly say that Jane has done the right thing now in backing down. I shall vote for the motion on Tuesday.”
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Why I Changed My Mind, by Jane Scott Explaining her unexpected decision, Jane Scott said: “It had all become very personal to me and I thought the only way to stop the campaign was to decide not to take it. “All the talk about the allowances was having a detrimental affect on the work of the council and that is my main priority. All anyone wanted to talk about was allowances and it was overshadowing all the positive work that is being done.” “I will only take the same allowance as I had before the decision was taken on the increase. I am happy to do this job for free as I have done for the past two years but it is a big job and if someone else takes it on in the future they should receive a proper allowance for doing it.” Councillor Scott added that she had received the extra payments up until last month, but she would now be paying them back. |
Update: medical records & care.data – admission that patients ‘may lose trust’ in NHS
