SHEFFIELD’S ruling Labour councillors have been attacked by Nick Clegg for ‘dropping’ a policy to give the authority’s lowest-paid staff an extra £250 each year.
The payment was made for staff paid below £21,000-a-year, under the old Lib Dem administration’s budget for 2011/12 – and Mr Clegg said it was supposed to happen on an annual basis.
But papers setting out the council’s financial plans for 2011/12 – including cuts of at least £48 million – do not include a pay rise next year.
Mr Clegg said: “I’ve had meetings with some of the country’s leading trade union representatives, who recognised that Sheffield was the only big council in the UK to provide the £250 payment – and that it was what they wanted.
“I think they will be horrified to hear that the new Labour council is dropping the commitment to help some of the lowest paid, when they are taking money from reserves to pay for extra spending elsewhere.
Subscribe
-
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
-
Like us on Facebook
-
Subscribe to our feed
-
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Most Read
- The Falklands are under threat again and we can’t rely on America to save us
- Defining our future in Burnham Britain
- William Wallace writes: The case for higher taxes
- “Palestine should be run by Palestinians” so why won’t Britain reckon with what it did?
- Britain should confront history honestly, not selectively
Search
Op-eds
-
Four challenges in Andy Burnham’s in-tray (Callum Robertson)
-
A plea to our new Prime Minister – abolish me! (Tim Leunig)
-
Mathew on Monday: Burnham has made a promising start. Now comes the hard part (Mathew Hulbert)
-
Orange with Bits (Brendan Roberts)
-
If Andy Burnham isn’t the Messiah… Good (Roz Savage MP)
-
"Winston and David" on stage
-
The Joy of Six 1551
-
Reform MP starts digging her own Standards hole
-
Kevin Keegan: The humble superstar of the Seventies
-
Labour councillor joins Lib Dems in Portsmouth
-
Andy Burnham's Big Promises - Now Comes the Difficult Part
-
Péter Magyar will ask Judit Polgár to become president of Hungary
-
After Dark podcast on the R101 airship disaster
Recent Comments
Peter Hirst
The best chance for Gaza in the present context is within a deal that deals with the wider Middle East. Perhaps the present situation is an opportunity that whe...- Peter Hirst
Concerning our purpose, in the present political context we exist to act as an alternative. The Liberal Democrats are the only Party that might sacrifice politi... 
Jana
“ This in turn is exacerbating a mental health crisis as young people feel a sense of hopelessness about their current economic circumstances.” I work wi...- Peter Hirst
Ian is right. And there is a wider message here. Whether it's transport, local green spaces or affordable housing until everyone is connected we suffer as a soc... 
Bridget Fox
Totally agree that standing for the GLA is very worthwhile. I was a list candidate back in 2012 and though I didn't get elected, it was a fun campaign to be par...
6 Comments
It’s funny that only half of the article has been added to Lib Dem Voice. Maybe that’s because its the only part of the article that they like?
For balance, please read what ithe article goes on to say…
“This approach was discussed with the old Lib Dem leader, Coun Paul Scriven, and agreed to be taken forward. A collective agreement on this was achieved with the Trade Unions, which was explicit that the payment would apply for the 2011/12 period only.”
So hardly Labour cutting a payment. The Council and Trade Union’s agreed whilst the Lib Dems ran the Council that it would be for 1 year only.
This story is no more than spin in the pure desperation of a return to power.
@Dave, what you don’t say is that quote was from the Labour leader of the council and not part of the journalist’s own interpretation. The article also doesn’t actually quote Paul Scriven, not has it given him a ‘right of reply’ to the claims made by Labour. The unions may have accepted that the payment was only for the 2011/12 period, but the intentions of the Lib Dem Council appear to have been to continue the payment in future budgets.
If you’re going to accuse someone of “spin”, at least make sure you’re not spinning in return…
Proof, if proof were needed, that Labour long ago sacrificed social justice or a greater cause for electioneering and profiteering through power.
Well, they have to have some spare cash for their olympic ticket allocation
Just to confirm, it was agreed as an annual increase and is in black and white within the budget book. Labour councillors in Sheffield have no evidence what so ever that this was agreed by the previous Council Leader, mainly because the claim is totally untrue!
Labour increased the gap between rich and poor over their 13 years and created a vast beaurocracy to adminster it. They are at it again. How about that Labour trolls!