Is this the only person in County Durham supporting the rise in councillors' pay?
As published on the Northern Ech website 12:00pm Saturday 1st August 2009 "Have your say" And you can have yours through our comment facility
PERHAPS Durham county councillors could be accused of bad timing, but to describe them as ready “to dip their noses in the trough” over their (now agreed) 20 per cent allowance rise – as did Ralph Hughes (HAS, July 29) – is disingenuous to say the least.
Although some councillors have full-time employment, thus having to fit in a personal life around the pressures of council work and a job, others work full-time as councillors.
Certainly, I cannot see how the leader, deputy leader, cabinet members and chairman of the council can carry out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively and keep an employer happy at the same time.
So how do we expect them to house, feed and clothe themselves and their families?
Anyone who has had any contact with councillors must know that to be a good one requires a lot of time, effort and energy. I know a lot of good ones.
If there is any discussion to be had it should centre on the rationale of fewer councillors being paid at much higher rates so that they can focus fully on the issues of their communities.
Surely I can’t be the only voter who thinks that if you pay peanuts you’ll inevitably get some…
Olwyn Gunn,
Hunwick,
Crook,
Co Durham.
Showing posts with label durham county council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label durham county council. Show all posts
Monday, 3 August 2009
Monday, 13 October 2008
"Well, here’s another nice mess you've gotten me into, Stanley." (Oliver Hardy 1930)
Wanted: One clerk to the council, Stanley, Co Durham. Salary scale £43,118 - £46,503. 37 hours per week.
A town council, established with the encouragement of Government when it received a 2,500 name petition of support, held its first meeting some five months ago.
Now, Stanley Town Council is advertising for a Town Clerk, with the not inconsiderable salary package shown above.
As you’ve probably already guessed, not everyone is totally happy with this development.
For example, Watts Stelling, who leads the Derwentside Independents (the main opposition group in the district) doesn’t seem to be very impressed. He said “That seems a ridiculous amount for somebody taking over what is in effect a parish council. I personally don’t believe there will be enough work to justify that scale of salary”.
And Mr Stelling isn’t the only one it seems. DCC Reg Ord who represents Burnopfield and Dipton, Stanley weighed in with: “The town council is going to have to justify that salary to the council tax payers of Stanley; they are the ones footing the bill”.
We rooted about for the job ad. It reads: “We are seeking a suitably qualified, experienced and enthusiastic person to be appointed as our first Town Clerk.
“This full time post requires the Clerk to be responsible for managing the day to day business of the Council, providing appropriate advice and implementing Council decisions”.
(Think I’ll dust off my CV: I’m experienced; and I can surely be enthusiastic with a salary of c£45,000 on offer!)
If you follow the wild and wonderful world of local politics, you’ll recall that the issue of a town council for Stanley caused a bit of a tiff among Labour Party loyalists.
Some of them supported North Durham MP Kevan Jones who campaigned vigorously for the council; but others said the new beast would simply add to the burden on local council tax payers – it would be a white elephant.
(Hmmm….white elephant, Stanley, mess…..there must be room for another Laurel & Hardy gag in there somewhere!)
A town council, established with the encouragement of Government when it received a 2,500 name petition of support, held its first meeting some five months ago.
Now, Stanley Town Council is advertising for a Town Clerk, with the not inconsiderable salary package shown above.
As you’ve probably already guessed, not everyone is totally happy with this development.
For example, Watts Stelling, who leads the Derwentside Independents (the main opposition group in the district) doesn’t seem to be very impressed. He said “That seems a ridiculous amount for somebody taking over what is in effect a parish council. I personally don’t believe there will be enough work to justify that scale of salary”.
And Mr Stelling isn’t the only one it seems. DCC Reg Ord who represents Burnopfield and Dipton, Stanley weighed in with: “The town council is going to have to justify that salary to the council tax payers of Stanley; they are the ones footing the bill”.
We rooted about for the job ad. It reads: “We are seeking a suitably qualified, experienced and enthusiastic person to be appointed as our first Town Clerk.
“This full time post requires the Clerk to be responsible for managing the day to day business of the Council, providing appropriate advice and implementing Council decisions”.
(Think I’ll dust off my CV: I’m experienced; and I can surely be enthusiastic with a salary of c£45,000 on offer!)
If you follow the wild and wonderful world of local politics, you’ll recall that the issue of a town council for Stanley caused a bit of a tiff among Labour Party loyalists.
Some of them supported North Durham MP Kevan Jones who campaigned vigorously for the council; but others said the new beast would simply add to the burden on local council tax payers – it would be a white elephant.
(Hmmm….white elephant, Stanley, mess…..there must be room for another Laurel & Hardy gag in there somewhere!)
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
“Dear Northerners, will the last one of you to leave please turn out the lights”? Yours ever, Dave.
Well, it looks like it’s official then – it really is ‘grim up North’, and what’s more, it seems we poor unfortunates have about as much chance as a snowball in hell of it ever getting any better.
A right-wing think tank (the Policy Exchange) has come up with an absolute belter of an idea – and it runs something like this:
The ‘tankers’ argue that regeneration efforts in northern cities like Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle have failed, leaving them ‘beyond revival’ – and they want the government to encourage their poor downtrodden inhabitants (i.e. you and me) to migrate to the golden lowlands ‘down South’.
It’s not the first report to criticise the Government’s efforts to bridge inequalities between the regions (The Taxpayers’ Alliance recently put the boot in too) but this one goes further: it argues that there’s ‘no realistic prospect’ of bridging this gap, so there’s no point even trying. Instead, the Policy Exchange wants the government to free up more land for affordable housing in London, and to concentrate on developing bigger cities in the South-East – with Oxford and Cambridge the two leading candidates.
This humble scribe doesn’t get down South very often, but it seems to me that it’s already bursting at the seams – where will they fit us all?? And I bet the good burghers of Cambridge will just love the idea of invading hordes of Northerners setting up camp at the end of their gardens. Can you imagine the jolly japes and the witty badinage that will ensue between hosts and in-comers? (It would make a great Channel 4 documentary though, wouldn’t it?)
The ‘tankers’ theory is that our national geography is still mired in the 19th century. Port cities like Newcastle and Sunderland came to prominence ‘in an era when exporting manufactured goods by sea was a vital source of prosperity’. The ‘tankers’suggest that its time to re-draw the boundaries of Britain’s economic geography to reflect our current strengths, rather than trying to boost regional equality artificially. It seems to escape their notice, mind, that in the 21st century our port cities are vital for energy imports (Teesside) and exports (Nissan cars anyone?)
You might be inclined to write off this lunacy as the barmy ravings of Thatcherite policy wonks that have never been north of the Watford Gap, were it not for the fact that the Policy Exchange actually carries a lot of influence within the camp of Tory leader David (‘call me Dave’) Cameron.
(Mind you, Dave has been desperately distancing himself from the report today - after all, when you’ve spent the last decade in opposition, arguing for the effective abandonment of large urban areas in the North is not going to be a big vote-winner now, is it?)
It’s not often I find myself applauding the Rt Hon Nick Brown MP, but today I would like to doff my cap to him (and being a Northerner, I do naturally have a cap and of course I know how to ‘doff’).
Our Minister for the North East didn’t hold back when he said (and I quote): “These stupid people do not know what they are talking about. If these half-wits really are advising David Cameron, then God help us if we ever get another Conservative government.”
Mr Brown, I salute you! (Now where’s that light switch….)
A right-wing think tank (the Policy Exchange) has come up with an absolute belter of an idea – and it runs something like this:
The ‘tankers’ argue that regeneration efforts in northern cities like Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle have failed, leaving them ‘beyond revival’ – and they want the government to encourage their poor downtrodden inhabitants (i.e. you and me) to migrate to the golden lowlands ‘down South’.
It’s not the first report to criticise the Government’s efforts to bridge inequalities between the regions (The Taxpayers’ Alliance recently put the boot in too) but this one goes further: it argues that there’s ‘no realistic prospect’ of bridging this gap, so there’s no point even trying. Instead, the Policy Exchange wants the government to free up more land for affordable housing in London, and to concentrate on developing bigger cities in the South-East – with Oxford and Cambridge the two leading candidates.
This humble scribe doesn’t get down South very often, but it seems to me that it’s already bursting at the seams – where will they fit us all?? And I bet the good burghers of Cambridge will just love the idea of invading hordes of Northerners setting up camp at the end of their gardens. Can you imagine the jolly japes and the witty badinage that will ensue between hosts and in-comers? (It would make a great Channel 4 documentary though, wouldn’t it?)
The ‘tankers’ theory is that our national geography is still mired in the 19th century. Port cities like Newcastle and Sunderland came to prominence ‘in an era when exporting manufactured goods by sea was a vital source of prosperity’. The ‘tankers’suggest that its time to re-draw the boundaries of Britain’s economic geography to reflect our current strengths, rather than trying to boost regional equality artificially. It seems to escape their notice, mind, that in the 21st century our port cities are vital for energy imports (Teesside) and exports (Nissan cars anyone?)
You might be inclined to write off this lunacy as the barmy ravings of Thatcherite policy wonks that have never been north of the Watford Gap, were it not for the fact that the Policy Exchange actually carries a lot of influence within the camp of Tory leader David (‘call me Dave’) Cameron.
(Mind you, Dave has been desperately distancing himself from the report today - after all, when you’ve spent the last decade in opposition, arguing for the effective abandonment of large urban areas in the North is not going to be a big vote-winner now, is it?)
It’s not often I find myself applauding the Rt Hon Nick Brown MP, but today I would like to doff my cap to him (and being a Northerner, I do naturally have a cap and of course I know how to ‘doff’).
Our Minister for the North East didn’t hold back when he said (and I quote): “These stupid people do not know what they are talking about. If these half-wits really are advising David Cameron, then God help us if we ever get another Conservative government.”
Mr Brown, I salute you! (Now where’s that light switch….)
Friday, 8 August 2008
Over a barrel?
By Sheik Yermoni Maker
The current high price of oil is giving all of us some real grief at present – and it seems our Councils are feeling the pain, too.
North East Councils have seen their collective fuel bills rise by more than £3 million in the past year; Durham County Council (perhaps soon to be re-named – hopefully not!) tells us their increased bills will be just shy of £500,000.
So, what do our elected leaders propose to do about the problem? Seems like they’re keen to get together with other councils from all over the country and speculate on the oil market. That’s ‘speculate’ (dictionary definition: To engage in a course of reasoning often based on inconclusive evidence) with your money….and mine.
They would pool their resources and go out and deal on the oil futures market to get the best deals, gambling on oil prices either remaining high or going higher to make large savings.
So far so good…..but the oil market is notoriously volatile, and once you’ve forward-bought oil at a set price there’s no backing out. What happens if the price of oil drops? You’re stuffed, and locked-in to paying over the odds.
Now, forgive me for thinking the un-thinkable, but successful speculation in any commodity futures market demands agility, balls of steel, and the ability to make instant decisions. Are any of these words and phrases ones that you would associate with our councils? Thought not.
The current high price of oil is giving all of us some real grief at present – and it seems our Councils are feeling the pain, too.
North East Councils have seen their collective fuel bills rise by more than £3 million in the past year; Durham County Council (perhaps soon to be re-named – hopefully not!) tells us their increased bills will be just shy of £500,000.
So, what do our elected leaders propose to do about the problem? Seems like they’re keen to get together with other councils from all over the country and speculate on the oil market. That’s ‘speculate’ (dictionary definition: To engage in a course of reasoning often based on inconclusive evidence) with your money….and mine.
They would pool their resources and go out and deal on the oil futures market to get the best deals, gambling on oil prices either remaining high or going higher to make large savings.
So far so good…..but the oil market is notoriously volatile, and once you’ve forward-bought oil at a set price there’s no backing out. What happens if the price of oil drops? You’re stuffed, and locked-in to paying over the odds.
Now, forgive me for thinking the un-thinkable, but successful speculation in any commodity futures market demands agility, balls of steel, and the ability to make instant decisions. Are any of these words and phrases ones that you would associate with our councils? Thought not.
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