Conservatives challenge plans to 'double' Mayor's allowance in Skegness

There was a heated debate at the last meeting of Skegness Town Council when Coun Adrian Findley (SUDS) put forward a motion to "reinstate the Mayor' s allowance back to its original amount".

Coun Findley said it would "allow less unfortunate individuals to take up the honour of being Mayor of Skegness without forcing them to reject the offer, or financially struggling during their time."

However, Tory councillor Daniel Kirk objected to the motion saying "I find it outrageous that the residents of Skegness should be expected to pay for a slap-up dinner after the Mayor Making ceremony."

This year's Mayor, Coun Trevor Burnham, accepted the chain of office in May with a reduced budget of £2,400 for the year because of the impact of the pandemic.

Previous Mayor's have received more than double that amount - and have hosted a civic reception after the Mayor Making ceremony, which has raised hundreds of pounds for charity.

Since the last council meeting, town clerk Steve Larner has been looking at how much it was cost to increase the allowance while preparing the Budget for 2022/23 - and, according to Coun Kirk, a decision was made at the last last management committee meeting to double the Mayor's allowance.

As a result, Coun Kirk has put forward a new motion, seconded by a previous Mayor, Coun Carl Macey, to challenge the decision and give the public the opportunity to join in the debate.

It states: "The purpose of this motion is to present information regarding what other parish councils pay their mayors as an allowance.

"Presenting this information in a motion, prior to the meeting allows for all councillors and members of the public to debate this topic collectively instead of debating speculation and assumptions.

"The reasons for doing so are because within the last management committee meeting, this council decided to double the mayoral allowance at times when residence and businesses are seeing unprecedented pressures on their personal finances.

"Household costs are rising at unprecedented rate with many of our residents worrying how they will meet their basic living costs. In my opinion, to double the mayoral allowance at this time is misguided and distasteful to say the least.

"Do the members of this council think it is acceptable for our residence, who suffer some of the highest rates of deprivation and lowest wages in the country, to be paying for such a substantial increase?

"Is it OK for our residence to foot the bill of giving the mayor more spending money?

"We propose that this council does not further add to the financial stress and pressure of its residents by doubling the Mayor’s Allowance next year.

"Instead, the mayoral allowance remains at £2,640 for the coming financial year and inflationary increases in the years after."

The motion will be debated at the next meeting of Skegness Town Council on Wednesday, November 10. There will be opportunity for the public to speak at 7pm and within the meeting on items on the agenda.