Bournemouth council pay increase - get involved!

Who reading this can say they’ve had a 34% pay increase this year, or could expect one next year?  If you’re the leader of Bournemouth Council, you can because you just voted for it.  The decision by Bournemouth Council’s cabinet to increase their pay takes the leader’s salary to £36,000 a year.  Cabinet members  will also see an increase of 32%.  In fact, Bournemouth councillors can hand themselves a staggering increase of 17%, all coming from recommendations put forward by the council’s ‘Independent’ Remuneration Panel to be voted on at next week’s council meeting.

But the fight isn’t over.  Bournemouth Council’s cabinet may have approved this, but the Council hasn’t voted on it yet.  There is still time to fight this outrageous pay increase.

This is where you come in as independent campaigning taxpayers.  You’re paying for these snouts in the trough scrambling to fill their pockets with your money.  It’s time for you to stand up and make your voice heard.

First, call your local radio station to ask them to run a story on this.  BBC Radio Solent covers Dorset, so call their news desk on 02380 631 311 or send an email to radio.solent@bbc.co.uk.

You can contact BBC Dorset on 01305 250992 or by email at dorset@bbc.co.uk to get them to run a story on this on the BBC website.

Write to your local newspaper urging Bournemouth’s taxpayers to complain to their councillor.  Simply send an email to the Bournemouth Echo at newsdesk@bournemouthecho.co.uk

Hold your councillor to account and ask them to vote against this increase next week.  You can find your councillor by clicking here.  Ask them why they increased council tax, why they increased their pay but also plead poverty in claiming Bournemouth is a ‘cash strapped’ council.  It might be worth sending an email to the leader of Bournemouth Council, Stephen Macloughlin, by sending him an email to stephen.macloughlin@bournemouth.gov.uk asking why he deserves an increase of 34%.  If you get a reply, let me know by forwarding it to tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com.  It would be interesting to see how he defends himself to such scrutiny.

Finally, recruit to the TaxPayers’ Alliance.  If Bournemouth sees a massive rise in TPA membership as a result of this, the politicians will know the people are fed up of their Gravy Train politics and want a fairer deal.  By joining the TPA you’ll tell the politicians you want lower taxes, you want transparent and accountable government and that you’re not going to sit by as professional politicians bleed scarce resources from frontline services.