Peterborough’s metro mayor: ‘I’m probably the most scrutinised politician in the country’
In an interview with the Local Government Chronicle, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor James Palmer said he was subject to a high number of freedom of information requests, but added: “There cannot be anyone else more transparent than I am.”
Mayor Palmer, leader of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, has come under heavy scrutiny since becoming the country’s first metro mayor in 2017.
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Hide AdThis includes the controversial departure of the authority’s former chief executive Martin Whiteley, who left with a payout of £94,500, the high turnover of senior staff, with six chief financial officers in two years, and a budget rising to £7.6 million, far in excess of the £850,000 Mr Palmer said the authority could be run on, although it has taken on extra responsibilities than previously expected.
The budget has now decreased to £4.5 million.
The combined authority has powers over transport, housing and infrastructure projects, including the University of Peterborough.
Mr Palmer told the LGC: “I think I am probably the most scrutinised mayor in the country, I think I’m probably the most scrutinised politician in the country, considering the number of freedom of information requests that scrutiny committee members put through to this authority.”
But he added: “There cannot be anyone else more transparent than I am. I have got no problem with that at all. They can scrutinise all they want but what it won’t do is get in the way of me delivering on my projects.”
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Hide AdMr Palmer also criticised officers at other councils in the county who he claimed are using the combined authority to “prop up their budgets”.
He added: “There have been issues around that because some unelected officers feel that the combined authority exists for another reason than it actually does.”
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