Government Condemns Surrey’s Excessive Councillor Allowances in response to Lib Dems

Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council wrote to the Secretary of State asking him to investigate the excessive increases in councillor allowances and the excessive number of special responsibility allowances pushed through by the Conservative administration at County Hall. She also asked him to check whether the Government's own regulations had been followed by the County Council.

Cllr Watson said : "I am delighted with the response I have received from Brandon Lewis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to my letter. He has condemned the decisions on councillors allowances as "deeply concerning" and agrees with me that the County Council did not comply with Government Regulations. He has stated that the Government expects those in public life to show restraint and to set levels of allowances for councillors and remuneration for officers which reflect the pressure on budgets and the need to pay off the deficit left by the last Administration. I totally agree with his comments.

"Given the Government's clear condemnation of the decisions and also the outrage expressed by Surrey residents who have to foot the bill, I am again calling on the Conservative administration at County Hall to overturn their decisions on councillors allowances and replace them with something much more reasonable.

"The Conservative administration at County Hall is living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that they can get away with these outrageous councillor allowances. It is time for them to back down and admit they made a massive mistake to the detriment of Surrey residents."

Letter from Brandon Lewis MP

Letter from Hazel Watson to Eric Pickles MP