Andrew Pelling calls on councillors to be more open about earnings

By Ian Austen

ian.austen@essnmedia.co.uk

Andrew Pelling has called on Croydon councillors to be more upfront about their external wages - after admitting he can earn £1,000 an hour working for a Japanese finance company.

The Croydon Central MP also wants councillors, particularly senior members, to reveal how much time a week they put into council work to justify their allowances.

Mr Pelling is calling for the changes after last week's full council meeting was told that information about wages and hours worked for the council was not kept.

He then raised the issue in Parliament with John Denham, secretary of state for communities and local government, asking if the Government was prepared to tell councils that were cutting services to also "make similar cuts to councillors' salaries."

Latest figures published for 2008/09 by the council show that all members received a basic allowance of £11,880 but many received a top up for special responsibility.

Council leader Mike Fisher received £53,410 while Labour opposition leader Tony Newman received around £33,500.

Most cabinet members received between £43,000 and £47,000, although allowances have been frozen for two years.

Mr Denham said councillors' remuneration was devolved to local authorities.

But recognising that independent MP Mr Pelling had raised a valid concern, he added: "At a time when its is important to use every taxpayer pound as effectively and efficiently as possible, those authorities with particularly high levels of councillor remuneration may need to consider their policies."

Mr Pelling stressed he had no qualms about revealing what he earned on top of his £60,000-a-year MP's salary.

His declarations of interest show that in August last year he earned £6,240 for six hours' "client relationship work" for the London office of Tokai Tokyo Securities Europe Ltd.

Two declarations for September 2009 show he earned the same amount for six hours' and eight hours' work and in November £6,240 for working 12 hours.

He admitted: "For six hours a month this is a good wage, it is just that I am very fortunate that I can command such a wage."

Mr Pelling said the wage reflected his 30 years of experience working in the City.

He added: "I think it is important that MPs have some career experience outside Parliament.

"The problem is there are too many who have worked for no one but their party and are therefore unable to say boo to a goose because it might affect their future Parliamentary career."

Mr Pelling believes the £6 million the council has spent on allowances over the past four years is too high.

"(This) money would be better spent on things like providing extra police," he said.

Councillor Fisher says if regulations were introduced insisting councillors declared outside earnings he would have no problem.

But he warned that some potentially good councillors could be put off standing if they had to reveal their private salaries.

He added: "I certainly work for more than the average working week on council business as do most of my cabinet colleagues."