Political blog: September 6: Council chiefs pay
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I see that the Government's plans to require councils to be more
open and transparent about the pay and perks enjoyed by their most
senior staff could be under threat - or at least risk being
diluted.
There is a good analysis of why on the
Conservativehome website, which reports how the plans to
require councils to move towards greater disclosure are being
resisted by among others, the employers' association that
represents council chief executives.
The piece has been written by Ben Farrugia of the campaign group
the Taxpayers' Alliance, which has proved to be
something of a thorn in the side of the local government
establishment over such issues.
Kent itself has a mixed record on this. While the county council
has been more forthcoming in disclosing some of this information,
it has not always done so as willingly as it might.
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How cool are the Conservatives? And does anyone really care?
Frankly, I don't and I don't suppose many voters do. But this
hasn't stopped an unintentionally hilarious piece being published
in today's Daily Telegraph by Tara Hamilton-Miller
purporting to be a serious piece about the issue.
My favourite line in the article is the suggestion that the
willingness of party advisers who belong to Cameron's inner circle
to tackle ballads at karaoke evenings is a sign of the party's
growing confidence. It's accompanied by an great - and equally
embarrassing - picture of Mr Cameron himself in what I'd call
trainers that are trying too hard.
You can read it
here - and the largely derisive comments made by readers.
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It can be a bit confusing trying to follow all the different
organisations and groups that are allied to the differing
strands of regional government that embrace Kent and the rest of
the south east.
One of the criticisms routinely made about organisations like
SEEDA is the lack of accountability and inability to hold them to
account.
In a move to counter this, the Government has set up so-called
"grand committees" made up of MPs in the relevant region to ask
questions about various aspects of regional activity.
I'm not sure how well this will work and there is a suspicion
that these committees might simply become another talking shop.
Either way, I won't be able to make Monday's inaugural grand
committee meeting - it's being held in Reading, when south east
regional minister and Kent MP Jonathan Shaw will be appearing.
Wednesday, September 09 2009
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