WHEN father-of-three Andy Beal emailed Oxfordshire county councillors asking how they voted after a hike in councillor’s allowances, he was shocked to be told: First tell me your salary and pension details.

Andy Beal, from Blackbird Leys, messaged 20 councillors on December 15, six days after the council voted to increase the basic allowance by 19 per cent.

The 56-year-old asked the elected councillors: “Can you tell me if you a) Voted for the recent allowance rise and b) If you have accepted it?”

Deputy leader Rodney Rose who voted in favour of increasing his own allowances, replied: ‘No real objection to answering your questions, but prior to doing that, can you tell me YOUR salary level, pension arrangements etc.’

And councillor for Goring division, Kevin Bulmer replied to Mr Beal stating: “You’re obviously entitled to assume what you like. However how I voted is a matter of public record and it can be obtained from OCC. I’d also be interested to receive details of your salary, pension, allowances etc.”

Mr Beal, who is a facilities manager and pays £1,200 a year in council tax, said: “I thought I would just email them and see what response I got. I asked them a simple question. They work for the council so what have they got to hide?

“I couldn’t understand what they came back with. What’s it got to do with them what I earn? It’s just the arrogance of their replies that got to me.

“I don’t get any expenses and no bonuses. I get a £10 Christmas voucher.”

The allowances, which are not salaries, are paid to elected councillors to make up for any wages they might lose out through time spent on council duties. The money comes from the public purse.

Mr Rose said his response was “sarcastic” and a kind of “you show me yours and I’ll show you mine” scenario.

He told the Oxford Mail: “I don’t see why he has got any more rights to privacy than any councillor has.

“I’m not really sorry. Everything I do is on the public record when it should be. I didn’t complain about my privacy being invaded but I don’t see there’s a reason to answer every single individual question.”

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Mr Rose gets £16,754 for his role as deputy leader, which under the increase will rise to £20,000.

This is on top of an £8,376 stipend for being an elected member which rises to £10,000.

He also claims travel expenses but says these are justified because he works 18 hours a day six days a week on council business.

He said: “For my ‘vast sum’ I do 18 hours a day, six days a week. I’ve no guilty feelings about being entitled to more. Anyone who questions it should shadow me for a couple of weeks and see what I do.”

He claimed to do more work than many council officials who he said are paid “hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

Mr Bulmer, who is just entitled to the increased basic allowance of £10,000, was unavailable for comment.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “This is public money and councillors are accountable to the public, so of course they ought to answer questions about it all.

“The best and only thing to do is to give an honest answer.”

The MP suggested that payments to councillors should be taken out of their hands, to prevent people voting on their own income.

This was echoed by Banbury MP Sir Tony Baldry, who said voters should hold their councillors accountable but it wasn’t the place of MPs to interfere with this process.

County councillors agreed the allowance increase last Tuesday at County Hall, the day after announcing £20m budget cuts. The hike was recommended by an independent panel.

When pressed by the Oxford Mail if they would take the extra money, only 14 of the 61 contacted said they would refuse it.

 


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