'Bone idle' Walsall councillors told to work harder
“Bone idle” Walsall councillors have been told to pull their weight and prove their worth to the taxpayers they serve.
Walsall Council leader Mike Bird and his cabinet member Garry Perry said there were some elected members who do not work as hard as others and called for more accountability of their performances.
Councillor Bird said they needed to inform the public and dispel the theory that they have got their “snouts in the trough” but do in fact provide value for money by working long days.
The issue was raised at a scrutiny overview committee meeting on Tuesday while the Walsall Proud Programme – aimed at making the council more efficient and delivering savings of £78 million over the next 10 years.
But while the programme is designed to transform council departments and change the roles of officers, they said councillors needed to be held accountable too.
Councillor Perry said: “I’m going to say something this is probably going to be unpopular, we have to start making elected members accountable as well.
“We have elected members, and I’m not saying who they are, who do not always pull their weight.
“Whenever future changes arise, there needs to be an accountability structure for elected members so that it covers everything from the meetings you attend, engagement with constituents, how you react to people’s problems and casework and any training that may be required.
“As much as it is also incumbent on us to decide the role of officers, we also need to be self-reflecting on our ability to serve the people we are elected to do so.”
Councillor Bird said: “There are some that sit at home Monday to Friday and others sat here Monday to Sunday. It goes with the job.
“We have got people who are bone idle. People aren’t queuing up to be councillors. The job has changed in the years I’ve been here.
“It now is almost a full time job. A cabinet member’s role is a full time job. I’m here everyday and that goes with being the leader.
“As a result, it calls upon your time like going to the Combined Authority or the Fire Authority.
“All that comes with no pay. People believe we have our snouts in the trough. It comes with no extra pay whatsoever.
"For example, last Friday, I went out of my house at 8am and was back by 10 to eight at night having been at the Combined Authority.
“People have got to understand that. We have to educate residents out there that they are getting value for money from their councillors.
“The only way you can do that is show how your councillor has performed where they present a performance report every year to say, ‘since last May, this is what we have done’.”
