A Lichfield District Councillor has accused the Labour Party of “attention seeking” behavior over their criticism of the council’s civic budget and chairman’s chauffeur-driven car.
The local authority’s bill for its civic functions is more than £50,000 per year.
The issue of the money has become a hot topic since discussion began over the £16,000 due to be spent on the Jaguar XF.
Conservative representative for Little Aston and Stonnall, Cllr Joseph Powell, believes the opposition is just trying to remain “relevant” in the eyes of local residents.
“Labour have made comments about the chairman’s car and civic budget just to make a few waves,” he said. “The party are still feeling sorry for themselves after losing seats at the election.”
Cllr Eric Drinkwater, Labour representative for Chase Terrace, had previously said any suggestion that the car was about civic pride was incorrect: “It’s not about being the face of the district at all – no, it’s all about personal prestige for those who have the roles.
“At a time of austerity, to keep thinking we can get away with spending so much on civic tradition is just crazy.”
And Cllr Sue Woodward, Labour opposition group leader, believes Cllr Powell has shown “contempt” for Lichfield and Burntwood residents who didn’t vote Conservative last month.
She insists her party have accepted the election result and that they’re now focused on holding the ruling Tory group to account.
She said: “These are ludicrous and arrogant remarks.
“Once again, Cllr Powell opens his mouth and puts his foot in it. He seems to be making a bit of a habit of this given his recent comments on the civic car.
“He’s showing contempt for those electors who voted anything but Conservative, which is the majority of course.
“We’re committed as a group to being as effective and responsible an opposition as we can be and this is appreciated by many of his colleagues. We accept the hand we’ve been dealt and Cllr Powell should too, rather than making attention-seeking statements of his own.
“He perhaps ought to start doing the job he’s paid to do as chairman of the Employment Committee a bit more conscientiously. Several months ago, I asked Cllr Powell to consider widening the remit of his committee from just rubber-stamping redundancies, to take in wider employment issues such as health and safety, staff morale in the current climate and so on.
“However, after just voting for an increase in the allowance he’s paid, Cllr Powell’s answer at the last council meeting shows he has done nothing of the sort. In my opinion that is hardly good value for council taxpayers’ money.”
