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Councillors' buffet costs £240,000 |
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Saturday, 10 December 2005 |
It has been revealed that the Councillor's Buffet in the City Chambers
costs £246,282 in the year to 31 March 2005. As there are
79 councillors that equates to over £3,100 per head! Of the
total, £64,011 of these costs came from the Common Good Fund which has
been much in the news lately. The Labour Group had
challenged the SNP's claims that councillors were receiving free
lunches but the SNP has responded with the facts and a rebuttal (letter
below).
John Mason said, "We have often stated that it is fine for
councillors to receive a free or subsidised lunch. Many of
them are poorly paid for the work they do. But surely soup
and sandwiches would be sufficient and also healthier! The
days of huge three course lunches are surely a relic of days gone
by. Nearly £1/4 million could be better used.
And in particular I do not think the Common Good Fund was intended to
fatten up the elected members."
Councillor Tom McKeown
Dear Tom,
Elected members' Lunches
Many thanks for your letter of 22 November concerning the above.
In the first place it seems that both Councillor Coleman and yourself
have a problem with the term "free lunches" for
councillors. I would suggest that most members of the
public would consider that we do in fact receive free
lunches. If I eat lunch in the Council Buffet, I do not pay
for it whereas most residents of this City do have to pay for their
lunch at their normal place of work and do not receive an allowance for
this.
In the longer term our aim is a proper salary for all elected
members. When this is achieved, there should also be an end
to free lunches or lunch allowances while members are working in the
City Chambers. There should also be an end to travel
allowances between home and the City Chambers. I trust you
and the Labour Group would support such a move. Other
residents of Glasgow have to pay for their own travel to their normal
place of work and for their own lunches while there.
However, I accept that in the short term a number of members are on the
ridiculously low salary/allowance of £7,000 to £8,000. I
certainly do not grudge these members free lunches, travel to work
costs, or excessive telephone allowances (£800 plus).
However, I do think that Councillors on reasonable SRAs including
myself should be claiming less allowances than they may technically be
entitled to. The SNP Group has not moved for an end to free
lunches but has proposed in previous budget rounds a nominal charge of £2 per meal.
You seem to suggest that the pooling of the Councillors' allowances
covers the cost of the Buffet. This is obviously
nonsense. The gross cost of the Buffet in 2004/05 was £246,282 with £64,011 of this paid from the Common Good Fund (see Ms
Brown's letter of 6 December attached). That represents
over £3,100 per member and I would suggest that better use could be
made of this money. In particular there have been
questions about Common Good Funds recently and I doubt the Glasgow
public would agree this money should be used to feed us in Victorian
opulence!
We certainly would not want to see any job losses through a scaling
back of the Buffet but would suggest that staff could be better
employed elsewhere. It was the subsidy which I described as
"excessive" in the Herald article to which I think you are
referring. A scaling back of Buffet expenditure to match
the Members' pooled allowances would be very welcome, however, as Ms
Brown states in her letter "no deduction is made from the cost of the
buffet for members' expenses".
As already stated, I consider that Councillors on lower
salaries/allowances should be encouraged to claim lunch
allowances. However, you will note that neither of my 2
colleagues do so. I would suggest that more of the Labour
members should follow their example. A reduction in the
number of three course meals plus morning and afternoon snacks consumed
by your colleagues would also bring them welcome health benefits.
I trust this gives an adequate summary of the views of myself and my
SNP colleagues but I will be delighted to answer any other points you
would like to raise.
Yours sincerely
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