Peterborough Labour group leader wants to reverse rise in allowances for councillors
In a statement issued today, Cllr Shaz Nawaz said: “A Labour led administration, following the May local elections, would seek a vote at the earliest opportunity to reverse the rise in Councillor allowances, which was pushed through by the Conservatives on Peterborough City council earlier this year.
“This, alongside a suspension in special responsibility allowances, would immediately save the council over £250,000 pounds per year, at a time when the council is in such a perilous financial state.
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Hide Ad“Labour will also instigate an internal, staff led, ‘War on Waste’ campaign, where council employees will be encouraged to identify waste and possible savings – from paper clips to consultants – Potentially saving the council millions of pounds.”
Cllr Nawaz is the leader of the Labour group on Peterborough City council and says he understands the incredible hardship that many thousands of people in Peterborough are suffering right now.
“Now is not the right time for councilors to accept an increase in allowances, despite what the independent panel has advised.
When so many people are struggling in this city with a cost-of-living crisis, morally, this is the right thing to do,” he added.
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Hide Ad“Working cooperatively with other parties after the election in May, we believe we can go further too. If the people of this city are having to tighten their belts and make huge sacrifices, then we should too, by suspending special responsibility allowances and asking councilors to do more for less. That is what residents in our city are having to do and if we are truly all in this together then we should be leading from the front and setting an example.
“Our staff led ‘War on Waste’ campaign is bound to identify many further savings and we will work with other political parties, staff and officers to identify savings and eliminate waste.
“For too long Peterborough City council has been financially mis-managed by the Conservatives in this city, that coupled with huge cuts to our funding, from successive Conservative Governments, has led to the financial mess that we find ourselves in today.”
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