ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk

@ajsmithKM

Maidstone’s borough councillors have resisted the invitation to grant themselves a 2.9% pay increase and instead can claim an extra 2.9% on expenses – without the necessity of submitting any receipts.

The seemingly self-contradictory position has arisen following a suggestion from the joint independent remuneration panel for a change in the way the council compensates its members for their broadband expenses.

Until now, councillors have been able to recoup their broadband costs, up to a maximum of £23.49 a month, provided they submitted proof of payment from their ISP provider. But of the council’s 55 members, only 18 bothered to do so.

The board said that the need to verify receipts was placing an onerous burden on the payroll department and it created difficulties for members who bought their broadband as part of a package that might include phone calls and other services – because there was no single bill for the broadband element.

Instead it recommended increasing the member’s basic allowance from £4,666 to £4,800 a year and abolishing broadband payments.

The extra £134 each would total £7,370 a year – a big increase on the £4,930 the council actually paid out to members last year.

But there was considerable dissension among councillors and a proposal put forward by Conservative cabinet member Cllr Brian Moss to adopt the board’s recommendation was defeated.

Cllr Malcolm McKay (Labour) asked whether his colleagues really wanted to see headlines saying they had just voted themselves a 2.9% pay increase.

Cllr Stephen Paine (Con) said that at a time when the council was having to let go officers who would had served the council well over a long period of time (because of budget cuts), he could not justify any increase in his personal allowance and would oppose the motion.

Cllr Jennifer Paterson (Lib Dem) said the payment should not be part of the members’ standard allowance, because members would then not be able to opt out of it if they didn’t wish – or didn’t need – to claim it.

Cllr Annabelle Blackmore (Con) said: “The vast majority of us would have broadband even if we weren’t councillors. Is there really any necessity to claim an allowance for it?”

But her position was disputed by less e-friendly councillors. Cllr Peter Parvin (Con) said: “If you want me to have broadband, then you have to pay for it. Otherwise, I’ll take hard copies.”

Cllr Dan Daley (Lib Dem) was unhappy that the new allowance would be £11.03 a month – less than his actual broadband cost of £18.66 which he was now claiming.

Members voted for a compromise proposal put forward by Cllr Richard Lusty (Con), which kept the official basic allowance unchanged but allowed members to ask for the extra £134 a year without the need to provide any receipts or evidence of expenditure.