 |
Rewarding lower paid staff at Kent County Council.
At today’s meeting of Kent County Council, Labour Group Leader Leslie Christie will propose a reduction in the staff budget for Kent’s highest paid Officers. Mr Christie will suggest that £550,000 be removed following a review of reward packages to those earning £100,000 or above.
The money saved will be used to provide a 1% pay increase to those members of staff earning the least.
Leslie Christie said: “I am proposing these changes to the budget because a pay freeze obviously hits those earning the least worst of all. We have a significant number of Officers earning over £100,000 a year; I believe that the people of Kent will agree that in the current economic climate we should help the lowest paid.”
The proposals will not affect the level of Council Tax paid by the people of Kent; it is a simple case of top slicing the wage bill of the highest paid to benefit the lowest paid.
Leslie Christie added: “I hope Kent’s Tories will agree that this recommendation is the right way forward. By voting for my amendment the County Council can help in someway those members of staff who are the lowest earners. Even George Osbourne recognised that those on £18,000 per year or below should be exempt from the pay freeze. It is a pity KCC Conservatives won’t back their own Shadow Chancellor."
At today’s meeting of Kent County Council, Labour Group Leader Leslie Christie will propose the scrapping of Kent Health Watch which has proven to be an unmitigated failure.
At a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds Kent Health Watch has seen just a few hundred people make use of what is in essence a duplication of the Government’s LINks service.
Kent Labour is proposing that the £200,000 budget be transferred to strategic business support so that the money can be invested in Kent’s network of Citizens Advice Bureaus.
Leslie Christie said: “Citizens Advice provide such an invaluable service to the people of Kent, we need to ensure that Citizens advice Bureaus have the funding to provide real help where it’s needed.
It’s time to recognise that kent Health Watch has been a failure and like Kent TV it’s time to pull the plug. I am sure Kent’s residents will agree that Citizens Advice Bureaus provide an invaluable service in the County, whereas hardly anyone has heard of or used Kent Health Watch.”
Leslie Christie:
01474 361564 or 07889 639428
