Council Leader Hits Back At Pay Rise Critics

18% increase was a "clerical error"

Following the blasting by Labour councillors over the Conservative administration's major cost-cutting programme, Leader of the Council Stephen Greenhalgh has hit back saying that the mention of an 18% increase in a report was an error.

He said, "Hammersmith & Fulham's Opposition Leader has jumped in too soon with his attacks over Councillors allowances. The apparent 18% increase voted for in February's Council Meeting was down to a clerical error by Council Officers - and certainly was not intended. In line with all Council staff, this was supposed to have been an inflationary increase, as agreed by the Cabinet - and the error will be rectified at the next Council meeting.

"I suggest Councillor Cowan should think twice before making such comments in the future. Over the past five years he has claimed £163,861 in Councillors allowances. Enough, were he competing with John Prescott, to buy himself eight Jaguars.

"It is also interesting that the Labour Councillors in Hammersmith & Fulham, clearly aware of this error, did not vote against the increases."

The initial criticism came after Conservative councillors used their majority at a recent Council Meeting to vote through a series of cuts which amounted to £34 million.

According to the local Labour party, the cuts include a reduction of £1.4 million for the elderly and sick to get home help, taking £540,000 from the children's, play and youth services, cutting £30,000 of storage facilities for homeless families to keep their belongings and axing £915,000 from the street cleaning service.

But Cllr Greenhalgh denied front line services were being cut saying that a reduction in waste and bureaucracy had allowed Hammersmith and Fulham to make a cut in the tax bill when most of the rest of the country were seeing a rise. The Council is one of only two in the country to cut tax this year.

March 16, 2007