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www.cornard.info |
The Great Cornard Information Website |
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Parish, District & County Councillors |
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Page updated - 25 February 2011 |
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This article first appeared in the Cornard News Newsletter |
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Councillors, Locality Budget & Elections Your ‘personal’ representative in the Parish, District & County Councils is a Councillor. In Great Cornard there are 14 Parish Councillors in total, 7 for the North Ward and 7 for the South. There are 4 District Councillors at Babergh, 2 for the North & 2 for the South and 1 County Councillor.
Elections to re-elect all the Councillors are held every four years. The next election date for the County Council is 2013 but the elections for the Parish & District Councils will be held on Thursday 5 May 2011 with postal votes cast by 21 April 2011. Also on 5 May 2011 there will be a referendum for the ‘Alternative Vote’ (AV) method of voting as an alternative to the, current, first-past-the-post system. The AV method ranks candidates in order before the lowest polling candidates in each constituency are eliminated and their votes redistributed among their rivals.
Every County Councillor is ‘given’ a quantity of money ‘allocated by population’ for the area that elected them. We, Cornard News, have been contacted by a number of Cornard Residents needing to know how & where the Locality Budget money is spent.
Under the Freedom of Information Act details are available on the Suffolk County Council website but for those who are unable to access this information, here are some of the details listed as Locality Budgets 2010/11 Babergh:
Councillor Peter Beer (Great Cornard) £10,800 - Total Locality Budget spend £1,810 - Remaining Balance available
£2,500 - Hockey Club Electronic Scoreboard £2,000 - Football Team Transport to Kent £2,000 - Rugby Club Video Camera etc. £1,000 - Scouts Archery Equipment £1,000 - Young Film Makers Project £800 - Lunch Club Members Outing £600 - Royal British Legion visit to Memorial £500 - Methodist Church Exhibition costs £200 - First Aid Training for Great Cornard £200 - RAF Assoc. Battle of Britain Parade
Although this is ‘not their money’ they are ‘charged’ to use or ‘re-distribute’. It must be for the clear benefit to a large section of the Community over a long period of time, one-off Community based events, equipment for schools, etc.
The Councillor must also be aware of any personal and prejudicial interests that may affect their judgement. It would seem that in all cases the Community, or very deserving causes, should directly benefit from the provision of Locality Budget funding. A document, giving a full explanation of Locality Budget Scheme Guidelines, is available on the Suffolk County Council Website.
Please remember on 5 May 2011 Great Cornard has elections for the Parish & District Councils.
It is fair to assume that ALL Councillors should, not only represent those who voted for them but, be Accountable & Accessible. Perhaps good advice would be to vote for the candidates that can identify with your individual needs & situation in the Community and will represent you.
Always try to use your vote wisely.
25 February 2011 |
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Councillors Expenses Well the ‘Councillors’ article in the last issue of Cornard News certain was a little emotive with some residents! Not just the ‘Chat to a Councillor' part but mainly the Payment to Councillors. Not Parish Councillors, they receive NO PAYMENT.
In response to the questions that the public of Great Cornard keep asking for answers to, here are some more details for the Financial Year 2009/2010.
Suffolk County Councillor (Only 1): Total - £10,950.27
Babergh District Councillors (There are 4): Total - £17,856.68
This information, and a lot more, is available under the Freedom of Information Act. The details from Babergh are fairly easy to find but the details from SCC are a little more difficult - pages 87, 88 & 89 of a 111 page document - not as easy as it could be!
Copies of the originals are on the Babergh & Suffolk County websites. If you have difficulty finding them just contact Cornard News (details - front page), preferably by email, and we will be willing to supply the necessary hyperlinks. Then you can see how the average of £8.11 per household was calculated.
District & County Councillors are expected to attend once every 6 months as a minimum. If a meeting lasts 2.5 hour, with travelling etc. this be extended to 4 hours, twice a year adds up to 8 hours. When claiming the Basic Allowance ONLY, the ‘inactive’ District Councillor is paid £455.87 per hour or a staggering £1368.78 per hour for a County Councillor. It is true that some Councillors really earn the money by working hard representing their electorate but sadly there are too many who only do the absolute minimum. Some may say ‘Nice work if you can get it.’
17 Nov 2010 |
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Councillors The purpose of having elected Councillors is that YOU can vote for who YOU want to represent you. Whether it is for Parish Council, District Council or County Council, Councillors choose to stand for election. As it is a Public Office position they should make themselves accessible and accountable to the electorate.
For Great Cornard there are:
Although Parish Councillors represent the residents of Great Cornard they do not receive an allowance. District and County Councillors get an allowance & expenses. You may be interested to learn that for the year 2009/2010, the total monies paid for the 5 Councillor positions in this period was £28,806.95. If divided by the 3554 households, that ‘we’ currently have, is just over an average of £8 per household. If you want to check that you are getting your eight-pounds-worth you could use the Councillor contact details that all Councillors have to provide.
A couple of other ‘interesting facts’ are that for the year 2009/2010 the total payment to Babergh Councillors was £228,216.24 and the total payment to County Councillors was £1,143,538.33. [This information is freely available under the Freedom of Information Act]
To make your ‘unpaid’ Parish Councillors even more accessible, meetings have been arranged for the First and Third Monday of every month at the Stevenson Centre from 7pm until 8pm, (until further notice). If you would like to
Chat to a Councillor
that is exactly what you can do.
If you are a resident of Great Cornard, why not come along on Monday evening? Although there is no guarantee of a positive outcome, there is a promise that justified concerns or comments will be taken seriously.
Currently there is no need to book, so just turn up. In future it is hoped that County & District Councillors will also be available.
Click this hyperlink to find the next date to Chat to a Councillor.
14 August 2010 |
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