Councillors' Allowances to rise AGAIN!

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/hartlepool-councillors-allowances-rise-again-less-than-a-year-on-from-31-increase-1-9295534

[mk1]

Facebook post    https://www.facebook.com/hartlepoolmailnews/posts/2058160124203827

[angryjim]

We only have to see on the news with Northamptonshire Council, who's finances are so bad they are now facing financial ruin, If I read Northamptonshires Accounts correctly they had usable reserves of just £52,000 on this years accounts.

In comparison Hartlepool has around £52,000,000 approx 10 times that, but take into account the money lost on vanity projects, the Jacksons landing,the cafe etc,etc & Hartlepool could have had a lot more in reserves, the fact that the councilors that voted their payrise backdated totaling 32%, shows that despite the claim of savage budget cuts, those cuts don't apply to you if you are a member of Hartlepool Borough Council with a certain red rosette on.

Whilst a 2% increase is looking like it will be accepted by the Labour Group (not that I know this for sure, but hey its free money.... are they going to refuse it ?) Hartlepool residents still have to visit the foodbank, Hartlepool Residents still have a Bedroom Tax to pay, Hartlepool Resident have to pay 13% Council Tax, as well as paying one of the Highest Council Tax rates in the country.

This wont bother a certain few within the Labour Mob as the cars will still be on the drive, the Gym memberships at Exercise for Less will still be ok and their house will still be paid for.

Like Ive said for far too long, Labour in Hartlepool is simply for the select few.......never for the many !

[Johnny Bongo]

If Labour DO vote for ANOTHER rise, the Hartlepool public should hound them out of office and the Civic immediately!  Maximum publicity on social media and maybe the public will actually vote them out at the next election! Maybe they know that the end is nigh, so they are filling their pockets with as much as they can and as soon as they can,  Stuff the electorate...let them eat cake....from foodbanks possibly! 

[Owen Jones]

The 2% rise means they will receive an extra £3:25 a week I don't know what all the fuss is about.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

The 2% rise means they will receive an extra £3:25 a week I don't know what all the fuss is about.

Principles ... principles ...

[Owen Jones]

No one in their right mind would turn down a pay rise   would you ? I think  not

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

2% compounded on top of the 31% not just 2%

[Inspector Knacker]

The 2% rise means they will receive an extra £3:25 a week I don't know what all the fuss is about.

Great news. You can pay my share then.

[Owen Jones]

Like I said previously no one in their right mind would turn down a pay rise. As a unionist, I have stood on the picket line for people up and down the pay scale. To oppose an increase is stupid and feeds in to the rhetoric of rogue employers paying their workforce poor wages and working conditions. And just to point out, I am certainly not a fan of certain councillors across political groups in h.pool.

[fred c]

It's a question of 'Value for Money'...If the LabMob council had given residents genuine value for money over the last 7 or 8 years you may have a point, however the majority of residents are disaffected at the performance and value the ruling group have given in those years.

Basic services and amenities have been cut, council tax has continued to be in the higher percentile nationally, millions have been wasted on visionary schemes that have still to come to fruition and to top it off.........The ruling LabTor coalition councillors have given themselves very tidy increase.

[Inspector Knacker]

Like I said previously no one in their right mind would turn down a pay rise.
It's not a pay rise, it's an allowance
As a unionist, I have stood on the picket line for people up and down the pay scale. To oppose an increase is stupid and feeds in to the rhetoric of rogue employers paying their workforce poor wages and working conditions.
They're not the 'workforce'  and their 'working conditions' are very agreeable
And just to point out, I am certainly not a fan of certain councillors across political groups in h.pool.
If you were, would you accept a 31% rise ? while the real workers they in effect employ, got nowhere near that

[mk1]

It's a question of 'Value for Money'...

CAB has been gifted a very highly paid 'non-job' by his fellow councillors. It is a job where he never has to turn up and where no one will ever sanction him for not turning up. In effect he is getting an obscene sum for doing the square root of F-All.
Not only does he  siphon cash and give nothing in return he boasts he works in 'The Voluntary Sector'. It must have impressed because our Kate fell completely under his spell and become one of his fawning fart-catchers!
In time the new mob baying for his blood will set themselves up in the same types of non-job. Expect to see Anth running a similar sort of 'Healthy Eating'  outfit in 2 or 3 years without even blushing.

[mk1]

They are all on the fiddle. Private Eye are running a story on Fire Chiefs who can wangle a brand spanking  new top of the range motor by simply installing blue lights behind the grille and re-classifying their personal use car as an 'Emergency Response Vehicle'. No surprise that Cleveland figure large in the scam:

Under freedom of  information rules  the  Eye asked other brigades  whether they provided cars for  the CFO, the assistant chief fire officer (ACFO) and the deputy  chief fire officer (DCFO), and, if so, the make   and model; whether those vehicles were leased or owned; their replacement frequency and if they were classed as emergency vehicles for  tax purposes.
Mid and West Wales has the flashest cars of all the brigades that answered. CFO Chris  Davies is driving around in a Range Rover SDV6, with a list price starting at £67,500 -even fancier than his Cheshire colleagues. Its emergency vehicle status means that £9,990 of  tax does not reach HMRC coffers. It also has  the highest CO emissions at 202g/km. Another four officers in the brigade are also provided  with cars, bringing the total value of the senior  officer car fleet to more than £250,000.
Cleveland, one ofthe UK's smallest  brigades, with only 14 fire stations, also has  one of the most expensive vehicles. CFO  Ian Hayton is running around in a BMW X5 xDrive, with a list price of more than £55,000,  but classed as an emergency vehicle.
Demonstrating that there's no need for such fancy cars, Northumberland provides a Nissan  Qashquai for its CFO and a Kia Sportage for the  ACFO, both classified as emergency vehicles.
Darlington and Durham provides officers with Skoda Superbs, and West Sussex provides Hyundai Santa Fes.
Car provision is by no means universal. Greater Manchester and Humberside were among the brigades that don't provide cars, instead allowing senior staff access to pool cars when required. Cumbria and Devon don't allow  private use of their vehicles and London chiefs use their own vehicles and claim expenses for any "operational'' use.

[Inspector Knacker]

Surely any standard saloon would suffice for that role and remain at the fire station as a general purpose vehicle. The Chief Officers can afford their own cars to travel to the fire station and pick up a general purpose vehicle.