Figures obtained by a former councillor are claimed to show that Western Isles Council decided to cut the number of councillors and spent £135,000 on severance deals for some of them – only for the number of councillors to increase along with the allowances paid to them. I asked Callum Ian Macmillan if we were the most governed islands in the world.
And there is reaction coming in already. Labour candidate Kevin Paterson, Stornoway North, said: “I am absolutely astounded by these figures and I really don’t know how these councillors sleep at night. It will be my mission to decrease the number of councillors and increase the quality. I would like to halve the money spent on paying councillors and use it to help schools, build houses and restore cuts in home care.”
UPDATED – A council spokesman insisted that decisions on member numbers and allowances were taken nationally. The £135,000 payout, due to the redrawn boundaries, was also made by the Scottish Government – not the comhairle.
He added that it was not a sham decision, as suggested by some critics, but a proper recommendation of the comhairle to the Boundaries Commission to reduce councillor numbers. However, despite that recommendation, it has not been acted on by the Scottish Government.
See. Severance payments is not democracy. Local Councillors should not be paid. Allowances are nothing but grit ! But I am a hypocrit in this, because it is for the allowance that I will be standing for Council ! I am a patrician and not a democrat !
councillors are elected for a fixed term . they are not employed . i bet you these golden goodbye payments were illegal . has anyone challenged this ???
Roger is that not the same as MP’s who have lost their seat because of boundary changes. Then they were given a golden goodbye payment.
KTU – theres a bit of a bloody diffrence. MP’s have always been full time jobs but councillors are supposed to fit it in with their occupation.
Once upon a time, well before anyone of us was young, Members of Parliament DID NOT GET A SALARY except on the occasion that they were Ministers of the Crown. And, that’s how it should be. Labour men used to have to have their respective Trade Unions pay them a wage. Tories and Liberals then lived off their own means. And, thus, in those circumstances Parliament tended to meet in the evening and far less legislation was passed. Men once had sense and i’ twasn’t until Lady Astor came along that there twern’t any lavatories for even lady Tories. Parliamentary pensions twern’t even a regular thing either. How backward Great Britain has become !
Being an M.P. is NOT a full-time job. Being ‘a dandy’ … ‘a Johnny Walker’ … which is the essence of being a legislator anyway does not deserve support out of the public purse. Compare a Minister of the Crown who has to sit in an office all day because of the doctrine of separation of powers, i.e. public servants propose, but it takes an individual beholden to parliament … essentially a closet of ‘dandies’ … to give a public service proposal the force of law.
Many thanks for your mini-paper covering these aspects of constitutional proprieties, Jack.
Can someone ask Callum Ian how much he was paid as a councillor- if he’s so much smatter than our SNP candidates – tell us now !
Dear Duncan
It’s been a long time since I was a councillor.The allowances are a matter of record and at that time we were paid a daily rate, rather than a monthly “allowance” [before "expenses"]. Contrast that with today when councillors are paid more than double what we were paid and today they don’t even have to turn up .
If you’re also daft or “lucky enough ” to be an SNP councillor like Annie Macdonald and her pal Gerry Macleod you could also be given the thousands of extra “wages ” they recieve donated by their freinds in the SNP government to “go on the health board” .
TIME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE !
This absolutely beggars belief !!
And this is why we will end up with the same old dross come the morning of 5/5/2012.
Vote for Dolly…vote for your local ewe.
“The most governed islands in the world?” Come off it! We’re part of the democratic UK; even with all the flaws of our council (and there are many) added to all the flaws of our Scottish and UK Governments (and they are countless), we are beyond lucky compared to trully oppressed people right around the world. I cannot help but see this thread as a clunky attempt to give a platform to one Callum Ian MacMillan. He would do well, in my view, to address himself to drinking his coffee, therefore it shall follow that when he opens his mouth, his coffee is that which we shall smell!
Democracy went with the loss of the coal mining industry. Remember Margaret ? She said, “There’s no such thing as society !” Once men were free ; free to hew coal relatively unsupervised and put money in their family’s piggy-bank. Even if, from time to time, a coal mine had bad breath in terms of asphyxiating or explosive gases. Back then, Labour M.P.s were semi-demagogues. Now Labour M.P.s have slipped into becoming a sort of nouveau aristocracy !
There are far too many councillors. A total waste of money. We only need half the number. Money for nothing. Campbell is costing us a fortune and holding us back. The Labour Councillors are just as bad and should join Campbell by going tomorrow.
Couldn’t agree more Bill. There are far too many councillors and, at most, we need half the number.
It was bad enough when they had all their allowances, as well as their subsidised bar and restaurant, but now we pay them well above the minimum wage, extra cash for being on committees, and assorted other expenses; and they still have their subsidised bar and restaurant.
If we are to pay them at all, then giving them the basic wage, the same as a large number of islanders receive, is more than they deserve. Better still, pay them by results, e.g. any payment based on the number of new jobs created on the island (not counting council jobs).
Certainly wouldn’t be any new jobs under the SNP the way they’re going!
Totally agree Far too much money wasted on councillors.Cut the number by at least half.After all I think Skye has 3 councillors ,Point equals this .