brennon

I see in today's local newspaper that some members of the public continue to be unhappy about the leader's comments about the current level of remuneration for district councillors.  One of the writers is a long time critic of all things local government, no doubt based on his previous insider knowledge and now rather outdated experience.

These critics may well be right in their belief that the whole thing is getting out of hand and that those elected to represent the people of a ward or division, should do it for the love of it!  However, rather than targeting those actually doing the ‘job', they should consider directing their anger at this government and its predecessors, which have forced many lead members to become virtually full time representatives of their councils.  As such, is it fair to expect lead members to continue to be grateful for what they get?

Political commentators often remark these days on how the job of leading MPs has changed dramatically in recent years, with them having little or no time to do anything else.  It would appear that our political masters now feel that all levels of government should suffer the same fate!   

I'm no good with figures (as my bank manager will tell you),  but I'm sure some bean counter (that's my rather rude description for accountants) could produce a nice little chart showing what percentage of the council tax was available to be spent as the council saw fit 20 years ago, compared to today.  I'm sure I heard some ridiculously low figure of less than 10% now, compared to over 40% pre-1974.

The upshot of this is that, if the council wants to actually ‘do' anything other than collect the council tax, empty the bins and now catch stray dogs, they have to go to all sorts of different government agencies, quangoes, panels, boards, bodies, committees, etc, etc, etc, to plead for the cash. 

The government keeps telling us that councils are at the heart of their communities and that they should be leading on just about anything and everything - health improvement, binge drinking, crime reduction, ASBOs, global warming, carbon footprint, place shaping, community cohesion, equality and diversity, the voluntary sector - you name it, we should be leading on it!

Don't get me wrong, I think these are all important issues and that those of us who are directly elected should be the ones responsible for making the world a better place for people to live in, in any way we can - bring it on!

However, somebody has to keep running around with the South Holland begging bowl and making the case for giving us the money that central government keeps waving under our noses - be good boys and girls and you can have a share of this particular pot - but only if you really convince us that you deserve it!

So, unlike in the good old days, when elected members were able to make some real decisions on how to spend the money raised via council tax and government grant, they are now required to go begging for it.  Sorry, I meant ‘bid for it by making a case based on a well evidenced business plan, ensuring that it addresses all those areas that the government consider to be a priority'.

Whether we like it not, elected members and in particular leaders (coz they won't listen to anybody if they don't have leader somewhere in their title, I'm told) now have to scurry around the various corridors of power, making the case to get a share of some particular cash pot, on behalf of the people they represent.    

So, until the government stops being control freaks and starts passing on the ‘tax dollars', without making everybody in local government jump through hoops, every time they come up with a new priority, the situation is only going to get worse.