Surrey Conservatives forced to scrap unnecessary £192K Cabinet Associate posts
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have welcomed the news that the Conservative-administration at County Hall has finally agreed to scrap the 4 Cabinet Associate posts which have so far cost the tax payer nearly two hundred thousand pounds since they were introduced.
Liberal Democrats have consistently called for these posts to be scrapped and for the money saved to be used on front line services, rather than on excessive allowances for Conservative county councillors. The roles that will end are:
Cabinet Associate for Children, Schools & Families
Cabinet Associate for the Built Environment
Cabinet Associate for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence
Cabinet Associate for Community Safety Services
Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, said today:
"I am pleased that these posts have been scrapped but disappointed that it has taken several years for the Conservative-administration at County Hall to realise that these roles were a waste of money. At a time of tight financial constraints for the county council, it is vital that every penny is spent wisely and it was clearly not possible for the Leader of the Council to be able to justify the rationale for these posts any longer.
"The cost of the 4 cabinet associate posts was just over £50K in 2016/17, at a time when the Conservative-administration was cutting services, introducing fees for using the tip and raising council tax - no wonder only 39% of Surrey residents agreed that the county council provided value for money. Liberal Democrat county councillors will continue to hold the Conservative-administration to account over the next 4 years and highlight examples of wasteful spending and where we think efficiencies could be made".
NOTES
A link to Cllr Watson's question on Cabinet Associate posts can be found here (page 14):