STAFFORDSHIRE County Council is set to spend up to £142,000 on hiring political assistants.
Two individuals could be appointed at the authority, with one assigned to the ruling Reform UK group and the other available to the council’s Conservative group.
The roles will be funded from a corporate contingency fund and will be one-year contracts.
Under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, local authorities may appoint up to three political assistants, each one assigned to a different eligible political group, provided that it has at least 10% of the total council membership, a report to a cabinet meeting said.
Cllr Ian Cooper, leader of the county council, said:
“Political assistants are routinely employed by councils up and down the country to support councillors through political research and briefings.
“I know that there are councils close by that have political assistants – when we went to the Local Government Association (LGA) conference they were quite astonished that we don’t.
“Local government is currently facing the biggest reorganisation in decades, so it is more important than ever that councillors are kept up on national Government policies affecting the county and the areas we service.
“The assistants will help provide invaluable detailed research and analysis and will be available to the main parties – not just to us, but the opposition as well.
“This position is only temporary. It is a 12-month contract. It will see us over the difficulties we foresee ahead, particularly with local government reorganisation, and it fits within the role of the council, reporting to me as the leader.
“We have always made decisions based on business and evidence and data-driven. We are different from previous councillors and we see this as a benefit that will drive this council to be more effective and efficient. It will pay for itself very quickly in the knowledge and experience that we gain.”
Cllr Cooper added that the £142,010 detailed in the cabinet report was the “potential maximum for two people” and was not what would be paid to an individual.
Fellow cabinet members backed the proposed appointments at the meeting yesterday (17th September).
Cllr Peter Mason said, cabinet member for strategic highways, said:
“We need that experience and support to help put Staffordshire back on the map.
“It’s been neglected for too many years and I fully support this role because it’s absolutely to the benefit of Staffordshire.”
Cllr Chris Large, cabinet member for finance and resources, said:
“As cabinet members, over the next two years we will all be extremely busy. Having this extra person who understands the ins and outs of political life – and has the ability to do the research as well – while everyone else is getting on with their day jobs of trying to run Staffordshire, I think is a vital position to have.”
Cllr Janet Higgins, cabinet member for education and SEND, said:
“We’re all new to this, we’re all doing our utmost best to do a good job. Having someone who is neutral and uses past experience and knowledge will be extremely beneficial to all of us.”
I thought Reform were looking to make cost savings, not increase expenditure?
Another admission that the Reform councillors we’ve elected haven’t got a clue how to run a council. Staffordshire clearly didn’t have these political assistants before because it didn’t need them. And they’re going to be paid more than the people we actually elected to do the job. Do we get a vote on who they are?
Within a few weeks of being elected the Reform County Council added another Cabinet post at £14,000 per annum (see the L.L. article below) to be responsible for S.E.N.D. but have not reduced the remuneration for Cllr Higgins’s post which was £21,677,45.
With the former Conservative MP, Andrea Jenkyns, now elected Reform Mayor for Greator Lincolnshire wanting £147. 000 for help with emails it is clearly a trend for Reform rather than the tens of thousands of pounds they promised to save.
Recent Staffs CC events are really painting reform in a good light! May be folk will think about voting for them again.
Interesting when the CEO has told the SCC staff there will be a freeze on recruitment until at least April 2026.
Yet anothe layer off unwated cost on the taxpayer
650 unemployable MPs with an army of little helpers then it cascades down local politics
This is a life style choice for the work shy.
The Labour front bench are the best example
Never worked but say they support workes.
Be careful if you have a pension in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). They are coming after it and are planning to use your hard earned pension for their own whims. Now you can see the sort of thing they will be wanting to spend it on.
So let me get this straight… These candidates stand for council, get elected, but don’t know what they’re doing or have the ability to do the job… so then spend a fortune to bring in people that can. What was the point? They now take a wage AND pay for people to run it for them.. what a scam.. and people will STILL vote for them. Wake up before we actually self destruct as a nation and put these clowns in power.