We're good value for money, says council head

1:01pm Friday 4th July 2008

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By Matt Smith »

THE leader of a Hampshire council which paid out £365,000 to councillors last year has insisted they are "pretty good value" for money.

Eastleigh Borough Council boss Keith House saw his allowances go up by 12 per cent to £24,226 last year while the bill for the authority's 44 members, excluding training and expenses, rose more than six per cent.

Councillor House said: "Councillors are pretty good value for money. They are dealing with multi-million-pound budgets on a l l owa n c e s smaller than those paid for similar jobs in the private sector."

They can claim a basic allowance of £5,478 plus extras for special responsibilities and training.

Cabinet members and party leaders were given an additional sum of between £6,400 and £8,530.

Cllr House, who claimed an allowance double that of most of his fellow councillors, added: "Cabinet members and leaders clearly put in vast numbers of hours. In stark terms, the figures look comparable with other jobs, but they are not because we are effectively on call 24 hours a day.

"We have meetings virtually every evening and receive calls throughout the weekend."

The allowance bill has soared by 29 per cent in the past two years as a result of a review which raised the allowances in 2006.

Click here to see the allowances of Eastleigh and other councillors

Mike Schofield, a campaigner with council tax reform group IsItFair, said he was shocked at the rises.

"It's a tremendous increase. I've never had anything like that increase in my life," he said.

But Cllr House said: "Our allowances are only reviewed every four years and the panel came to the conclusion we had been underpaying ourselves."

He said: "The underlying issue is, regardless of party, we are in it because we want to do a good job for people. I certainly wouldn't do it otherwise as I could earn vastly more working in the private sector."

He added by keeping council tax below inflation for three years councillors were "saving residents money".

Cllr House, a full time politician, is also a county councillor, board member of Seeda, the regional development agency, and the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority. He claimed £54,000 for all his public roles last year.

His partner Louise Bloom is among his Cabinet on Eastleigh council. She claimed £13,089 in allowances.