Monday, June 20, 2011

MONEY TO BURN : Millions lost in Icelandic banks yet 34 Scottish Borders Councillors soak up another million in salaries & expenses claims

THIRTY FOUR COUNCILLORS at Scottish Borders Council have ‘racked up’ a staggering THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION POUNDS in salaries & expenses at the South of Scotland local authority which has recently gained consent to borrow nearly THREE MILLION POUNDS from the Scottish Government’s Consent to Borrow scheme (otherwise known as buying off a council tax freeze scheme - Ed) to fund generous severance packages & cover up multi million pound losses in a series of failed investments in now bankrupt Icelandic Banks, previously reported on HERE & HERE

The salaries and expenses paid to the 34 councillors in Scottish Borders Council in 2010/11 rose by 2% in 2010/11 from £735,850 to £752,969 despite a salary freeze, although it appears expenses were not frozen.

A prominent Borders political reform campaigner said today “the salaries & expenses claims are staggering for a small Council that cant even manage a weekly bin collection.”

He continued : “Clearly we need a lot less money in expenses claims & salaries spent on idle Borders Councillors and more spent on public services. What do any of these people do anyway ? I didn’t hear any of them speak up over the Icelandic Banking losses and no wonder, they were too busy picking up their fat pay check every week and claiming the rest on expenses. Terrible!”

From the Consent to Borrow scheme operated by the Scottish Government, two consents have so far been tranged to Scottish Borders Council, one on 3 March 2011 for “Severance Costs”, totalling a whopping ONE MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS, and again on the same day, another for “ICELANDIC BANK LOSSES” totalling a staggering ONE MILLION AND TWENTY ONE THOUSAND POUNDS.

The following list of the 34 councillors lists totals in the order of expenses claims & total salary with expenses in thousands of pounds. Judge for yourselves if your councillor is worth tens of thousands of pounds of YOUR MONEY.

AK Aitchison Councillor 2,730.68 18,964.64
WK Archibald Councillor 3,251.17 19,485.13
CJ Bhatia Councillor  2,506.67 20,921.11
JAS Brown Councillor 2,656.09 18,890.05
N Calvert Depute Leader (Finance) 7,117.94 31,470.98
MJ Cook Executive Member (Corporate Improvement) 6,271.74 30,435.78
VM Davidson Executive Member (Economic Development)  3,243.18 24,256.14
Z Elliot Councillor  1,647.11 17,881.07
JA Fullarton Executive Member (Roads and Infrastructure) 4,916.57 25,929.53
GHT Garvie Executive Member (Culture, Sport & Community Learning) 3,677.62 24,690.58
WK Gunn Councillor  2,087.22 18,321.18
WO Herd Councillor  1,923.67 18,157.63
JB Houston Chairman (Planning & Building Standards) 1,873.51 19,996.51
JR Hume Councillor  1,170.64 17,404.60
AH Hutton Convener  4,751.18 29,104.22
T Jones Vice-Chairman, Planning & Building Standards 3,581.81 19,815.77
FKJ Lackenby Councillor  1,222.54 17,456.50
RG Logan Chairman, Licensing Board 3,858.78 20,092.74
S Marshall Councillor  2,102.16 18,336.12
JG Mitchell Councillor  2,599.52 18,833.48
DP Moffat Chairman, Scrutiny  3,595.64 21,718.64
AJ Nicol Depute Leader (HR)  2,114.53 26,467.57
D Parker Leader  6,004.61 38,474.57
D Paterson Councillor  18,388.19
JA Paton-Day Councillor   2,933.60 19,167.56
JD Raw Councillor  1,943.28 20,357.72
FA Renton Executive Member
(Social Care & Health) 3,473.09 24,275.56
CA Riddell-Carre 2,551.07 23,564.03

AA Scott Executive Member
(Communities & Health)  2,514.78 18,748.74
RH Smith Executive Member (Children & Strategic Services)/Vice-Convener 3,294.53 22,615.84
G Turnbull Executive Member (Education & Lifelong Learning) 4,930.09 26,935.39
NA Watson Borders Party Group Leader 2,505.41 18,739.37
T Weatherston Councillor  2,187.72 18,421.68
JL Wyse Executive Member (Environmental Services) 3,638.20 24,651.16

1 comment:

dognamedblue said...

thank you the ammunition for the next time SBC want to be a pain to a willing & never late tax payer ;)