Opposition councillors have raised concerns after it was discovered that the Leader of the council Cllr Graham Leadbitter had unilaterally amended senior councillor payments after the resignation of former SNP member Cllr Amy Taylor from the SNP-run administration and from her position as chair of a council committee..
As chair of a committee, she had received an extra payment, but Cllr Leadbitter transferred the payment to a fellow SNP member despite the person concerned only having a vice-chair role in a committee which is not currently operating.
It is understood that the payment was made against the advice of council officers.
Normally senior councillor payments within administration are only given to chairs of committees, and the leader and the convenor.
Commenting on this latest revelation is Cllr Tim Eagle:
“It is vitally important that the public has faith that extra public money is awarded to elected members on the basis of them taking on extra work and responsibility.
“It should not be treated as if it is some kind of private fund to be handed out at the discretion of the Leader of the Council to whoever he sees fit.
“Only a week ago the Conservative Group put forward a plan to make the council, smaller, smarter and swifter. A plan which would have saved some senior councillor allowances, reduced bureaucracy and reduced the time pressures on staff. We were narrowly outvoted.
“Frankly, I am appalled to hear that despite guidance from senior officers that the leader of the SNP has sought to financially benefit a member of his own group by increasing the allowances of a member who under the current model has no role that merits an extra payment.
“Moray has struggled for years to get the funding it needs to run core services and we have seen budget lines removed from the council of just hundreds of pounds so every penny really does count.
“This is just not on, and this matter should have come to full council to be discussed.”
Commenting further is Cllr Frank Brown Elgin North; “Many will remember concerns long in the past over the SNP’s handling of money in Moray and this just goes to show they are up to the same old tricks.
“If the Leader has gone against the advice of officers to increase the allowance to a member of his own group then this is a blatant abuse of power and trust. He should reconsider this decision and bring a report to council on the matter explaining his actions.”
