Sunday 7 September 2008
Mike Freer - An Apology
On 15th August 2008, I posted a blog entitled 14,000 Cheers For Mike Freer. This article may have given the mistaken impression that the esteemed leader of Barnet Council received allowances of approx £61,000 per annum, comprising his council allowance of £47,082 and a new allowance of £14,000 from the London Development Agency quango.
A senior member of the council contacted me to advise that Cllr Freer is also a member of another council-tax payer funded quango - London Councils. Cllr Freer is required to attend one meeting a month and receives an allowance of £10,248.
Mike Freer is therefore entitled to approx £71,330 a year from the public purse. I am happy to put the record straight and apologise for any embarrassment caused to Cllr Freer by selling him short.
Of course, at £71,000 per annum Cllr Freer is still some way behind fellow councillor Brian Coleman who rakes in over £87,500 (or half a Boland to use the correct terminology) from his council, GLA and LFEPA positions.
Who needs to be cosseted by family money when it is so much easier to live off the backs of hard working taxpayers?
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5 comments:
It would be interesting to know how the rates of pay are calculated for some of these 'jobs'. It's often said the reward has to be sufficiently high to compete with the private sector. I think if people can get higher wages elsewhere, they should go for it! What has happened to the idea of public service?
Contrary to popular belief, my complaint is not so much that councillors are earning bucket loads of public money, but rather that we don’t know what they are doing for it. Some of them might provide value for money but until we have a clear idea of their responsibilities, then it is reasonable to assume they just have their snouts in the trough.
In the private sector, salary is commensurate with performance. That discipline is totally lacking from the public sector.
I would like to know what David Miller does, seems all he enjoys doing is costing the Council money with his moaning thus meaning I as a tax-payer have to pay more tax!
David,
The ministry of truth are out in force tonight. Barnet_jane on your blog here trying to pretend that your efforts to expose waste are costing the council money.
It seems my latest effort on the Times where I suggest I may stand against Freer in Barnet has had me labelled a fascist.
I suspect that the people who read the blogs see all of this for what it is.
Rog
I am pleased to welcome Barnet Jane to my blog but regret to note that, like the anonymous councillor from East Barnet, she does not address any of the concerns I raise.
I am not at all happy at the cost of the PwC investigation, but I am not the person who sold the freehold of Underhill for a measly £10,000. I am not the person who buried £60,000 of legal expenses in the council’s accounts and then tried to sneak it under the noses of councillors (including Cllr Freer). I didn’t spend £14,000 on wide screen televisions for the chief officers or £3,000 flying business class to San Francisco. Nor did I overspend £4 million on a bridge project.
I would be very pleased if this blog become redundant, but for that to happen it requires our £1 million a year councillors to do their job properly and hold the officers and executive to account.
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