Petitions launched
TWO petitions have been launched by leading Conservative Cornwall councillors protesting against allowances paid to councillors and the use of lie detector tests. Former council leader Alec Robertson is behind the petition calling for the council to reverse its decision to increase councillors' allowances from £12,128 a year to £14,600 from May, after elections are held. The council agreed last year to the increase, having kept councillors' allowances frozen for three years. Mr Robertson's petition had gathered 41 signatures on Monday, including support from Councillor Steve Double who resigned from his Cabinet post after Mr Robertson was ousted as leader last year. A second petition has been launched by Fiona Ferguson, leader of the Conservative group and former Cabinet member, calling for the council to not use lie detector tests unless approved by the full council. It comes a week after Mrs Ferguson resigned from her Cabinet post over the use of Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) software by Capita which has been employed by the council to identify people falsely claiming single person's council tax discount. The petition had 35 signatures on Monday.
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Comments
by mygodlesslife
Thursday, January 31 2013, 1:20PM
“I didn't sign the lie detector petition because it calls only for it to be cleared by full council. I don't even want it to be considered. DON'T SIGN IT.
Nor did I sign the councillors pay petition. I agree that the rise was too much in these difficult times, but should I ever be elected to Cornwall Council, I would want my allowance to reflect the minimum wage. Of course, this figure is based on 25 hours per week, where as I would put in 40+. With that in mind, I think those that direct their efforts at council on a full-time basis should get £12875.20 pa, and those that have other jobs or interests can claim pro-rata minimum-wage allowances.
This would have to depend a lot on the honesty and integrity of those being elected, but then if you don't know or trust the person you are voting for, perhaps you shouldn't be voting at all.”