Tory Council condemned for extravagant allowances increases (Barnet Borough Liberal Democrats)

Barnet Borough Liberal Democrats <info@barnetlibdems.org.uk>

Tory Council condemned for extravagant allowances increases

July 15, 2010 11:55 PM

Cllr Jack Cohen has reported Barnet's Tory Council's widely condemned decision to increase Councillors' allowances to the standards board

Cllr Jack Cohen, Leader of Barnet Liberal Democrats has reported Barnet Council to its own Standards Committee. Cllr Cohen believes that Barnet has broken the law by allowing the increases in Members Allowances to be dealt with at Tuesday's Council meeting.

Councillor Cohen points out that the Local Government Acts of 1972 and 1985 set out rules which Councils must follow when reports are considered by Council. These include provision that reports must be available for inspection by the public (and Councillors) three clear days before a meeting. The report on Members Allowances should have been made available, at the latest, on Wednesday of last week. In fact the report was not made available until late on the day before the Council Meeting.

Councillor Cohen wrote to Borough's Chief Monitoring Officer before the Council meeting complaining that the Council had broken the law. As a result the Mayor announced that he would instead take the Members' Allowance Item as an urgent item. A furious Councillor Cohen protested that the Council was trying to use a loophole in the law to get them off the hook. "Urgent business" is only allowed

a) if it is urgent

b) The Chair of the Council must take the decision that it is urgent. As this is a statutory decision it must be taken properly and not under the dictate of party political pressure, which would render it unlawful

c) "Urgency" is not sufficient. The late item can only be added if "by reason of special circumstances" it should be considered "as a matter of urgency" at the meeting

d) The reason for the special circumstances must be stated in the minutes of the council meeting

The facts are clear says Councillor Cohen, "it was not urgent. We are not talking here about a situation for example where a person or persons would be put in danger if a decision was not taken, we were not up against deadlines which could put a capital project at risk nor were there any budget imperatives as the proposal is cost neutral for the current financial year, and finally there was no reason why the item could not have been deferred to the next Council Meeting."

Councillor Cohen who is a member of the Council's Standards Committee says

"The Standards Committee is the Council's Watchdog. Its job is to ensure that the whole Council behaves in an ethical manner. The whole point of having rules about the publication of Council Reports is so the public (and Councillors) can have access to papers in good time. Late reports open the Council to suspicion, disrepute and allegations of trying to suppress information. What is made worse in this case is when they were found out they attempted to use a loophole to try to avoid compliance. You do not expect a public body to behave in this way."

Councillor Cohen says he does not know why the Report was not published within the time scales laid down by the law. "The only explanations can be that there were bureaucratic delays or it was done deliberately: either way I believe there now needs to be an enquiry and that is why I have requested the Standards Committee to investigate."

Barnet Council's decision to increase senior councillors' allowances has been widely condemned. The Local Government Minister in the coalition Government, himself a Conservative, said it was wrong for Councillors to increase their allowances when the country was facing a massive deficit: "I find it quite disturbing they should be taking pay rises - I urge them to think again. Which planet are they living on? For goodness sake show some leadership."