Seven years ago, Southwark Labour made the bizarre and self-serving decision to introduce lucrative ‘loss of office payments’, known more commonly as ‘golden goodbyes’ to former Cabinet Members.
This scheme, the only one in the whole of the UK, baffled and insulted the residents of Southwark.
Southwark Liberal Democrats have spent years demanding Labour stop these sleazy payouts that are even paid out when Cabinet Members have been forced to resign in scandal.
We welcome Labour’s eleventh hour decision to scrap these wasteful, undeserved payouts, which was confirmed at this month’s full council meeting.
Shamefully, at that same meeting, Labour demonstrated their stubborn commitment to looking after their own and being totally tone deaf in regards to their members’ allowances scheme.
Labour members unanimously passed a report recommending their own pay rise, just a month after raising council tax and cutting vital services in their 2023/24 budget.
Over half of the Labour members in Southwark receive an addition ‘Special Responsibility Allowance’ on top of their standard member’s allowance. It’s quite right councillors are paid fair renumeration. Of course there is much important work to do in addition to the role of ward councillors. We must renumerate councillors appropriately, so a diverse range of colleagues (not just those who can afford to or have the time) can participate in the running of the council. But the culture of cronyism has grown out of control in Southwark and too many Labour councillors are being rewarded by the tax payer unnecessarily.
Over the last 12 months, the chair of Southwark’s main scrutiny has been paid the equivalent of £3,208 per meeting. That’s how much a premier league player makes. It’s embarrassing that Southwark Labour councillors are prepared to pay one of their own to mark their own homework and chair just eight meetings a year. Our local democracy is not fit for purpose.
While services are being cut, deputy cabinet members have been offered a pay rise despite their contribution to the borough remaining entirely unclear and unaccountable.
At full council Labour said they were giving pay rises to deputy cabinet members in order to “nurture talent”. I think the taxpayers of Southwark may be more than a little disturbed by the suggestion that their money is better used to groom a new generation of Labour politicians, rather than help people struggling in the cost of living crisis.
The Liberal Democrat group proposed a common sense amendment, reducing these additional allowances to rates far more appropriate to their responsibilities and saving the council £250,000 in the process.
That money could have been used to reverse the cuts to numerous teams delivering services for the most vulnerable in Southwark.
Of course councillors should be properly paid for their work, but Labour’s inflated allowances are little more than them looking after their own. The feathers in their nests have piled up so high they can no longer see how out of step they are with the feelings of residents.
Eventually, just like with their golden goodbyes, they will be forced to put an end to this ‘jobs for mates’ culture. We just have to hope it doesn’t take another seven years.