As anyone living in Barking & Dagenham, or outside with any interest and a computer can click on the councils website and after a little hunting can find in the agendas for the select/scrutiny committee meetings the Options for cuts.
This is because the council has to find some 48 million in cuts we read, in the reports and in the local press.
There is also on the agenda for the Executive the proposals for increase in charges.
None of these reports are making for easy reading, council staff will loose their jobs, services will be cut altogether or trimmed down.
We can fully appreciate that difficult times such as these call for difficult decisions, and we know that as well as the staff that will loose their jobs it is the residents of the borough who will feel the most pain of these cuts.
But, just what cuts are the elected members making? well we can always assume that the usual tea, coffee and biscuits for meetings will get cut, at least for the first 3 months and then quietly make their way back, but, what else? Nothing!!!!!!
Well lets have a look at one prominent member, he has his own business registered at Companies House, he works for a Registered Charity in the borough, his wages for this job come from public funds. He receives as all members do just over £10,000 per annum on top of this he receives a little over £3,000 as a Lead Member on a select committee, these monies come from public funds. He also receives £7,500 per annum as a non Exec member of the PCT again paid out of public funds.
So quite a nice little income really, just how much is he and the other 50 members of the council prepared to sacrifice to share the pain that the community they were elected to represent are going to feel?
How about the option that for the financial year April 2011 all 51 members offer up their basic £10,000 per annum?
This we are sure you will know makes a good saving of in excess of £510,000 quite a tidy sum, which could very well mean that some council staff do not loose their jobs.
And lets face it no councillor should depend on that £10,000 per annum, you never know when a by-election could be called.
So the question we pose to the members is are you up for the sacrifice?
