Councillor allowances cut to help Central Bedfordshire Council save cash

Central Bedfordshire councillors have agreed to cut their allowances to help the council save cash.

In February, the council agreed plans and cutbacks to reduce spending by a massive £25million – including taking another look at councillor allowances.

And the plans were agreed at a meeting last night (Thursday) after considering the recommendations of an independent panel which reviewed the allowance scheme – comparing it to other councils and considering the councillors’ views.

An IT allowance will no longer be provided to any councillors. Instead, the council will provide the IT equipment councillors need for their roles, saving £43,000 per year.

The council also voted to reduce Special Responsibility Allowances – given to some councillors to reflect the increased responsibility and workload – which it says will save “up to £120,515”.

Cllr Adam Zerny, leader of the council said: “When we took over as the administration a year ago, we didn’t feel it was right to take all of the councillor allowances available to us. This saved the council £100,000 in the last year alone. The decision this week by the council sets this change in stone and shows councillors understand the importance of spending public money appropriately. Many members of the public are struggling at the moment, and we as elected councillors need to share this burden.”

The councillor allowance scheme will be reviewed again next year.