by Stephen Waite

Tempers were frayed at a Swale council meeting during a debate on proposals to put more funds into grants for disabled people and to top up wages of the authority's lowest-paid staff.

Members from all parties packed into the council chamber on Wednesday evening last week to set the council's budget.

They agreed to freeze council tax charges but there were angry exchanges following the Labour group suggestion that about £36,000 should be made available for a £250 annual increase for about 120 employees on a low-pay grade.

Group leader Cllr Roger Truelove said: "This could easily have been funded as there is a surplus on the budget of £75,000."

Labour members, including a particularly passionate Cllr Martin McCusker, were angry at Tory opposition to the idea.

Cllr Truelove added: "We felt it was a mean-minded approach and we also take a dim view of the failure of the other side to justify their position."

Conservative cabinet member for performance Cllr Ted Wilcox said the staff pay structure had been agreed with unions: "I can understand not paying people at the top end but where do you start and where do you stop?"

He said about a third of the workforce had seen their pay increase by 4% for meeting requirements set out in their contract.

Grants

Meanwhile, Labour also failed to persuade the Tories to increase the council's contribution to disabled facilities grants from £100,000 to £300,000.

There is a waiting list of more than 200 disabled people waiting for modifications to their homes to help make their lives easier.

Cllr Truelove argued that more money was available for the grants, with council reserves approaching £10 million and £750,000 received from the sale of council land.

"There was genuine anger on our side and a feeling that the division on this issue says something about the two parties."

Speaking after the meeting, the Conservative cabinet member for finance, Cllr Duncan Dewar-Whalley, said the council had not ruled out pumping extra funds into the scheme. "We agreed to put in £100,000 and I said I would review it in June. By the time June comes around we will have an indication of how much is needed.

"We're not trying to avoid the issue, just trying to be prudent."

Commenting on the council tax freeze, leader of the council Cllr Andrew Bowles said: "I am really pleased that we are able to freeze council tax again this year.

"We have been able to do this by planning ahead, taking difficult decisions over the last couple of years so that we are in a position to absorb central government funding reductions without having to reduce staff numbers dramatically and certainly without decimating services."