Leicester Mercury political correspondent
How independent is the independent panel?
A brief note on the “independent panel” which recommends councillor allowances in Leicester.
It’s a time honoured tradition for councillors to blame this panel for unpalatable rises in elected member salaries: “That bloody independent panel, saying we should increase our allowances again. Such is life.”
Their recommendation to hike the mayoral salary to £65,000 and councillor allowances by 2.5% – revealed by me in today’s Mercury – is something which will no doubt stir debate on the letters page of the Mercury’s letters page. Word that the mayoral salary will reach £100,000+ within a year will stoke that debate further.
So who sits on this independent panel which is painted as so far removed from city politics as to be immune from undue outside influence?
Three ex-councillors from the mainstream parties who say they don’t wish to stand for election again, a university academic and the Chamber of Commerce chief.
That means that councillor pay is recommended by former councillor colleagues, ratified by councillors themselves, who then get to blame a bunch of ex-councillors who don’t have the face the electorate again anyway. It’s genius.
about 1 year ago
The Leicester Mercury’s opinion piece in today’s paper says “…we think it is right that the mayor’s salary reflects a post which will be at least as high-profile and important as that of an MP” and it further goes on to conclude “…it is an an entirely sensible idea to set the figure at the same level as an MP’s salary…”