The decision to pay councillors £6,000 for sitting as non-executive directors on council-run companies will stand after it was called in by the opposition and reviewed.

But scrutiny committee members recommended better communication was needed in future and the process used to appoint councillors into the positions should be reviewed.

They also felt an independent remuneration panel should consider the pay.

Councillors met for an extraordinary meeting of Wokingham Borough’s Council’s overview scrutiny management committee last Thursday after the Liberal Democrats had called in the decision to pay councillors acting as non-executive directors on three council-owned companies more than £6,000 per year.

Leader of the council Councillor David Lee and the executive member for finance Cllr Anthony Pollock were called as ‘witnesses’ to justify the decision made by the executive last month.

The Lib Dems said they are disappointed, but not surprised, with the scrutiny committee’s outcome.

Cllr Lindsay Ferris, one of the Lib Dems who called in the decision, said: “There was no process for this decision to pay councillors more; it was made on a whim by Conservatives.

“They claimed at the meeting they are under-appreciated and undervalued.

“I think it’s the residents of Wokingham being undervalued when their council tax is spent in this way.

“At the meeting the Tories said £36,000 was of little account and they easily found it to pay themselves more. Strange they can’t find money so easily to pay for services residents actually want.”

Cllr David Lee told the committee: “It frustrates me being dragged back for trying to do the right thing for this authority.

“To come into the real world, you have to do this otherwise we would have to go back and have to start cutting public services.

“These companies are here to generate substantial amounts in excess of millions of pounds.”

But he conceded that with hindsight the process could have been handled differently.

The committee voted by eight to four to confirm the executive’s decision and recommended better communication, that an independent remuneration panel should consider the pay and a constitution review working group should look at the process of appointments.

Cllr Sue Smith, who sits on the committee, said: “I’m sure decisions were made in good faith but it needs to be seen to be done properly.

“The money being used is council money and that means things have to be taken at a slower pace and the public has to be taken along with these decisions.”

Questioned whether the £36,000 total for six councillors was the best use of council money, Cllr Anthony Pollock said the authority ‘could have two workers now but be millions short in the future’, a possibility he described as a ‘poor return’.

Cllr Prue Bray, leader of Wokingham Lib Dems, pointed out that council-owned company Optalis has been running at a loss, a trend Cllr Lee said was normal for new companies.

Objectors also suggested the process of Conservatives selecting their peers as directors risked being perceived as ‘jobs for the boys’, a suggestion Cllr Lee described as ‘slightly offensive’.

Site navigation

• Home
• News
• Business
• Sport
• Entertainment
• Lifestyle
• Jobs
• Property
• Motoring
• Classifieds