Councillor 'can't afford Jag' without higher expenses (From Daily Echo)

Councillor 'can't afford Jag' without higher expenses

4:44pm Wednesday 24th February 2010 in

More stories about: Titchfield

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HE drives a gold-coloured X-type Jaguar and is paid an allowance of nearly £12,000 as a backbench Hampshire county councillor.

But Tory councillor Geoffrey Hockley has said he will “be forced to sell” his luxury car if made to cut another taxpayer-funded perk – a 53p per mile petrol allowance.

The 70-year-old retired businessman pleaded to keep the generous mileage rate at a meeting of the council while councillors approved budget proposals to slash petrol expenses for thousands of staff next April.

Councillors were under pressure from an independent review panel to cut their petrol mileage rate from 53p to 40p – bringing them in line with the maximum tax-free rate recommended by the Inland Revenue and saving council taxpayers’ £30,000 a year.

They voted to freeze their pay but gave themselves the choice of either claiming 53p or 40p per mile in petrol expenses – a move slammed by union leaders.

Cllr Hockley, who represents Titchfield, said he had treated himself to a Jaguar and the high running costs were unaffordable on a councillor’s allowance and lower mileage rate.

Figures show he claimed £1,402 in petrol expenses for driving his three-year-old Jaguar to council meetings in 2009.

He said: “My car is not unbelievably fuel-efficient.

I accept that but at my age it is probably the last car I will buy and I wanted it to be a nice one. It’s not a Ferrari or a Maserati but one of the more basic cars that Jaguar produce.

Prior to retiring, he worked in Zambia and Kenya as a general sales manager for an American multi-national corporation before working for Trident Trust charity in the UK providing work placements for students.

The father-of-two said the 53p rate was part of the benefits package when he was elected in 2005 and it was unfair to change it.

He said councillors “making political capital” of the issue boosted their income by sitting on other bodies such as district councils, police and fire authorities.

The Conservative-controlled council is looking to find £15m savings as part of the budget for 2010-11.

The cost-cutting drive includes slashing petrol expenses claimed by 7,500 staff who need their cars for work from 53p to 40p –saving £1m in just 12 months.

Negotiations are ongoing between management and unions about a 48p rate for staff earning less than £33,000, including social workers and home helps.

Gina Turner branch secretary of Hampshire Unison said: “Councillors need to lead by example. They can’t have one rule for members and one rule for staff. That’s not fair.

“They can’t say to employees you have to have a petrol mileage rate of 40p to save money but we can do whatever we want. They are the ones looking for efficiency savings. Councillors didn’t vote themselves a pay rise which makes them look good but staff had no choice about their pay being frozen next year or their mileage rates.

It’s rubbing salt in the wound.”

Christine Melsom, chairman of IsItFair anti-council tax group, said: “I am very pleased Cabinet members have decided to accept 40p and I don’t think other councillors should be given any choice but to do the same.

“If Cllr Hockley wants to run a Jaguar and it costs more than 40p per mile than he should pay the extra out of his own pocket and not expect council taxpayers to subsidise his extravagance!”

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Keith House said he was astounded by the Tory opposition to reducing councillors’ mileage allowances – and “impassioned pleas from Jaguar drivers they couldn’t afford to drive their cars.”

He pledged his Lib Dem group would all claim the 40p rate.

Figures show that the total amount paid out to 78 councillors in petrol expenses in 2008-9 was £115,560.

The biggest petrol claims were by Cabinet members Cllr Mel Kendal (£7,448) and Cllr David Kirk (£7,181) – who were also paid a special responsibility allowance of £17,157 on top of their basic £11,848 pay – while Cllr Colin Davidovitz made no petrol claim at all in 2009.

Comments(47)

Redondo Saint says...
4:53pm Wed 24 Feb 10

With all the cut backs and sacrifices everyone else has to endure, it's rather sickening that a councillor can be so far out of touch with the rest of the human race.