East Riding Lib Dem Councillors have published figures on Extra Allowances (so called Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA’s). This is money paid to Councillors over and above the Basic Allowance of £12.3K that all East Riding Councillors receive. SRA’s are paid to Chairs and Vice Chairs and Cabinet members.

The latest figures are published on the Council Website and show the Financial year to April 2022.

The amount of extra Allowances (SRA’s) drawn by Councillors is a whopping £346,427 pa. The Conservative Group have grabbed 90% of the extra allowances pot, amounting to £332,104.
NB. In 2019 the conservatives won 49 seats with the rest of the political parties taking 18.

These Allowances are in addition to the £12.3K Basic that all Councillors receive. The Total Allowances bill is £1,154, 000 every year. This is equivalent to 0.5 % of Council Tax.
The Leader of the Council receives £36,164 on top of his Basic Allowance of £12.3 = £48.4K.
The figures exclude costs for travel and IT which are reimbursed separately.

East Riding Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr David Nolan said: “I condemn this gravy train as a slap in the face to our hard-pressed residents. The Conservatives over the past 20 years, have created a pyramid of “Mickey mouse” roles with SRA’s attached. Of the 49 Tory Councillors to April 2022, 36 claimed an SRA. That’s ¾ of them on the gravy train. Many of these SRA’s are in the “gift” of the Conservative Council Leader Cllr Jonathan Owen, which creates a cosy culture of patronage.

Whilst residents are financially hard-pressed in a Cost of Living crisis and spiralling food and heating bills, the Conservatives are enjoying a gravy train of extra allowance paid for by Council Tax-payers.
Lib Dem Calculations show that Committee Chairs are on an eye-watering hourly rate of £352 per hour, whilst Cabinet members are raking in £456 per hour* That is more than a Solicitor would get. The only qualification needed to be a Cabinet member is to wear a blue rosette and toe the party line.

This week the Council looks set on Thursday to approve a 5% increase in Council Tax. Later this month, the Conservatives will be pushing through inflation-busting rises in their Allowances of potentially 15%.

I call upon the Conservative Council Leader Cllr Jonathan Owen to put the brakes on the gravy train, by announcing that the SRA’s are frozen for 2022 and 2023. As Opposition Group Leader I receive an SRA (£ 7,356) and I am happy to have mine frozen and I call on him to do the same to all SRA’s.”

What did our local Councillors claim?
Pocklington Provincial. Total = basic allowance + SRA

David Sykes £14,578
Kay West £21,632
Paul West £16,344

Wolds Weighton
Leo Hammond £18,608
David Rudd £15,879
Mike Stathers £15,462