The Conservative Group on Hastings Borough Council have called councillor allowances to be lowered by 40%
On Wednesday they moved an amendment to the review of councillor allowances to lower them by 40% only to be voted down by both the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups.
Cllr Gurney in his first speech to full council moved the amendment by saying “ with massive cuts coming across the council services this is way of keeping some key services going for a little longer.” The figure of 40% was chosen as this is the worst case scenario for government cuts to local government and would have saved the council £120,000 (2% council tax) for this year but unfortunately the ruling Labour group refused to agree and with the Lib Dems voted for the proposed freeze in allowances instead. Which meant the motion was defeated by 18 votes to 14.
The Labour administration on the same night published £286,000 of cuts to Area based grant schemes to the detriment of the regeneration of Hastings. The Conservative Group in Hastings may be in opposition but will continue the hard work to make sure that the residents of Hastings receive value for money from the services offered by the council.