Call on Mayor to cut the cost of politics in Lewisham (Lewisham Liberal Democrats)

Lewisham Liberal Democrats <info@lewishamlibdems.org.uk>

Call on Mayor to cut the cost of politics in Lewisham

May 14, 2010 3:26 PM

Chris Maines is calling on the Mayor and Cabinet to cut the cost of politics in Lewisham

Lewisham's Mayor has announced a larger cabinet, although he continues in his refusal to delegate any decision making power to any of these councillors.

"This is potentially a 15% increase in salaries with more people," says Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Chris Maines. "I will be calling on Lewisham's Mayor to follow the example of the national government. The new Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition have cut their salaries by 5%, taking a lead in tightening their belts in the current economic difficulties."

Cllr Maines added: "I hope the Mayor is following the national lead on this. We all know how constrained public finances are, and we all need to make cuts. A 5% pay cut for cabinet members doesn't make a huge difference to the budget, but right now every little helps. It would be a good sign that they wanted to share the pain of ordinary residents, who are struggling to make ends meet."

Cllr Maines said that the new appointments made by Mayor Bullock seem to be the same old faces with no new ideas or enthusiasm to deal with the challenges facing the Council - including one new appointment as a cabinet member for "spin". He said, "It raises a serious question whether council tax payers should be funding a Labour councillor to 'spin' on behalf of the Labour Council."