Author: Knowledgeable
Date: 10/31/2001 7:32 am WEDT
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In this instance Trevor Clarke is right and Anthony Berands' completely wrong. I have no idea where Mr Berands' got his figures from but every one he quotes is wrong.
I haven't got the exact figures to hand but the figures Mr Clarke quotes are broadly accurate. However the truth behind these so-called 'pay rises' is that Richmond Council has for the past three years being implementing a scheme proposed by the Association of London Government. The scheme was arrived at after the ALG, on behalf on all London Boroughs; asked an independent panel to recommend suggested levels of remuneration for Councillors.
Richmond adopted these recommendations three years ago, but agreed rather than go for an immediate increase, it would phase in the rise. The Council also opted not to go with the full recommendation but to pay Councillors roughly 2/3rds of the full recommendations. Richmond's remuneration's are still amongst the lowest in London
This was agreed with ALL party support because all the politicians, whatever their political persuasion, recognised that it was crucial to expand the potential number of candidates, and that research proved that money was a very big factor in preventing candidates coming forward.
One of the major ironies in this is that the biggest 'loser' has been Cllr Williams, who for 17 out of the 18 years he was Leader of The Council was paid far less than the CEO of a corporation pays his/her cleaner each year!
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