TODAY'S Visiter gets under the prickly skin of councillors' allowances and expenses in Sefton.
So what are the headline figures for 2007/8? Well, for all 66 Sefton councillors the total amount drawn was £921,025. That averages out at nearly £14k apiece - but in reality there's a gulf between what most 'backbench' councillors are receiving compared to the elite 10 who sit in the cabinet. Party spokespeople and scrutiny committee chairs fall somewhere in the middle. Logically enough, the highest 'pay' - i.e. allowance, subject to income tax, NI etc - was taken home by Cllr Tony Robertson. His post as leader of the authority earned him £34,560. A considerable sum, given the role of councillor was traditionally the domain of the unpaid, amateur politician. But hardly extravagant - a middle-manager's salary for the man at the political helm of an organisation with a £230million budget.
Tory activist Mike Swift's label about Sefton's representatives reaching towards the 'millionaire's club' made for good copy. Next year's figures will make really interesting reading. But one thing may have swelled the figures somewhat this year. My understanding of the remuneration package voted through the council last September was that it hiked councillors' allowances at the same time as curbing their ability to claim for within-Sefton travel. Yet the former was backdated to the start of the fiscal year while the later was not.
Sefton's figures are far from the end of the story over the extent to which council taxpayers are shelling out to sustain their local political representatives. There are a series of Merseyside-wide joint boards, national representative organisations, health trusts and the like on which councillors can sit - usually by virtue of their elected office - which command allowances and expenses. Twelve months ago Merseyside Fire & Rescue authority recorded an overall allowances and expenses tally of £216,771.82 for its 24 members.
However, I agree with those who caution against jumping to conclusions. Vast tracts of councillors claim no expenses at all, saying they will decline to claim back thing they could legitimately do so. But a militant parsimony may be fine for those who can sustain their representative role by other means - but vibrant democracy means that all should be able to afford to put themselves forward before the electorate.
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