Reform councillors criticised after voting to spend £150,000 on political advisers
The plans were put forward by Reform councillor George Finch, a 19-year-old who was narrowly elected as the leader of Warwickshire county council during a meeting on Tuesday, which was picketed by protesters.
The protest came after a row over an attempt by Finch, as interim leader, to have a Pride flag removed from council headquarters before the end of Pride month. The chief executive refused the request, telling him she was responsible for such decisions.
However, there was fresh controversy during a meeting of the council, one of several where Reform became the largest party in the recent local elections, as it narrowly pushed through plans to hire political advisers but lost a separate vote relating to the climate crisis.
Opposition councillors accused Reform of reneging on promises to voters over the political advisers, who would be publicly funded for it and the other two largest parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
'These proposals are all about spending some money so they can have a chum in their group and I think that is not particularly helpful given the financial state of this council,' said George Cowcher, councillor and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats. He added that it was almost a quarter of the way through the financial year and there had yet to be any proposals from Reform about managing the authority's budget.
Sam Jones, a Green party councillor, said: 'Reform have had a sniff of power, they're making it so clear that they never cared a jot for the will of their supporters. No to overpaid, unelected bureaucrats before the election, but yes to up to £150,000 of unfunded spending on political assistants now the campaigning is over.'
Finch defended the plans, which would involve a political assistant for each of the three big parties, on the basis that it was permitted by legislation and occurred in other councils. If other parties were against it, he challenged them to vote against the plan and then choose not to hire political assistants. His colleague, the councillor Michael Bannister, said the party saw the move as 'value for money' and funds would be found from elsewhere.
However, there was a defeat for Reform when opposition MPs supported a green motion to recognise that scientific evidence clearly states climate change is happening, and support the council's 2019 vote to declare a 'climate emergency.'
'We are here as local people sorting out local problems. It is ridiculous to be asking for anything else,' said Reform councillor Luke Cooper, who said he had experience of installing solar panels and measures that he said people could not afford.
Sarah Feeney, the Labour leader, said the climate crisis was a 'not a hypothetical' and was already having a major impact on farmers, with flooding causing elderly people to sometimes barricade themselves in their homes.
Tracey Drew, a Green party councillor, said: 'The least well off in our county are going to be the first and the most to be impacted by the effects of climate change.'
Outside the council meeting, demonstrators included Becky Davidson, a district councillor who said she was there to support the LGBT community. Finch was 'using a marginalised community as a propaganda tool', she said.
Carolyn, a resident of Stratford-upon-Avon, was holding a placard reading: 'Donald Trump inspires Farage to import to the UK DEI: Division, Exclusion, Inequality'. She said she was worried about Reform overturning 'policies around recognising the climate emergency' and that she was there to object to Finch's 'pettiness' over the Pride flag.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
35 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
UK-wide strategy needed to tackle pensioner poverty, says committee
The Government should also decide on – and ensure – a minimum level of retirement income, the Work and Pensions Committee urged. Once set, a plan should be created for everyone to reach that level, it added. Given that the state pension is the core of the Government's offer to pensioners, a guiding principle should be that it provides the amount needed for a 'minimum, dignified, socially acceptable standard of living', the committee said. It urged the Government to commit to a UK-wide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society, that it said would help target support to tackle pensioner poverty. If it does not effectively tackle poverty as one of the causes of ill-health, 'the Government will not be able to achieve its goal of building a health and social care service that is sustainable', the Pensioner Poverty report warned. The report also highlighted longer-term trends that 'threaten to undermine pension adequacy', such as people renting into later life. The committee also called for a pension credit take-up strategy for England by the end of 2025. Despite being worth up to £4,000 a year, the take-up of pension credit has hovered between 61% and 66% for a decade, with an estimated 700,000 households being eligible but not claiming, the committee said. A taper to pension credit should also be considered to 'mitigate the cliff-edge effect' for those who currently miss out, the report said. Under current rules, some pensioners just above income thresholds could end up worse off than those with slightly lower incomes, it added. Pension credit can 'passport' recipients to other benefits such as housing benefit, council tax support, the warm homes discount, a free TV licence, help with dental treatment and, in winter 2024/25, the winter fuel payment. The committee argued that reliance on top-ups such as pension credit and housing benefit is not sufficient to ensure people do not fall below the poverty line. The report said: 'After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021.' It continued: 'The number of people of pension age living in relative poverty (below 60% of median income) is 1.9 million or 16% of pensioners. 'Measures which factor in the cost of living show that between 2008/09 and 2022/23, the number of pensioners in households below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS)—the amount needed for a minimum dignified socially acceptable standard of living—rose from 1.5 to 2.8 million. 'The proportion of pensioners below 75% of MIS (where the risk of material deprivation increases substantially) rose from 5.9% in 2021/22 to 9.5% in 2022/23. 'In practice, this means cutting back on essentials, like food, energy use and seeing friends, in an attempt to manage costs. Health experts explained the implications for health. Financial hardship can accelerate the ageing process, making it more likely that an older person will enter hospital or need care.' The committee said that in some places, organisations are working together towards shared objectives. The report continued: 'However, not all areas do this. We heard that it would help to have a national cross-government strategy for our ageing society and older people. 'This could provide a framework to hold the different partners to account for their role in delivering the agreed outcomes. It could also ensure that central government departments developed policy with shared objectives in mind.' Committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams said: 'To boost incomes, the Government needs to come up with a strategy to increase pension credit take-up. It's a scandal that so many have missed out for so many years, often through an aversion to claiming benefits altogether, or lack of support. 'The fairness of the pensions credit eligibility criteria where if you are a penny above the threshold, you miss out on thousands of pounds, also needs to be looked at. 'Ultimately, the Government should decide what it thinks is enough for a dignified retirement, and then work to ensure that all pensioners are on at least that level. 'Faced with a combination of high energy costs, ill-health and ever higher rates of pensioners in more costly privately rented accommodation, tackling pensioner poverty is not simply a DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) issue. So, we're calling for a nationwide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society that should be rooted in equity and wellbeing.' On Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that a review into raising the state pension age is needed to ensure the system is 'sustainable and affordable'. The Government review is due to report in March 2029 and Ms Reeves said it was 'right' to look at the age at which people can receive the state pension as life expectancy increases. The state pension age is currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028 and the Government is legally required to periodically review the age. A Government spokesperson said: 'Supporting pensioners is a top priority, and thanks to our commitment to the triple lock, millions will see their yearly state pension rise by up to £1,900 by the end of this parliament. 'We have also run the biggest-ever campaign to boost pension credit take-up, with nearly 60,000 extra pensioner households being awarded the benefit, worth on average around £4,300 a year. 'But we know there is a real risk that tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, which is why we are reviving the Pension Commission, to tackle the barriers that stop too many people from saving.' Emma Douglas, wealth policy director at Aviva, said: 'The pensions industry – alongside a revitalised Pensions Commission – has a critical role to play in helping people save for retirement and then turn their hard-earned pension pots into lasting financial security. 'With many people likely to manage their money well into their 90s, we must ensure those savings work harder and stretch further – especially as later life can bring complex challenges like cognitive decline.' She said that Aviva and Age UK were exploring a 'mid-retirement MOT' to help give people tools, guidance, and confidence to stay financially resilient throughout retirement. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'We warmly welcome this thoughtful and wide-ranging select committee report, which comes closer to providing a thorough and progressive strategic overview of the issues facing older people on low incomes and proposing workable solutions than anything successive governments have produced in recent years. 'When the Government announced the launch of the Pensions Commission earlier this week, ministers made it clear that its task is to think about the creation of a better system for future pensioners. 'This is necessary and important, but this committee report reinforces the point that there's work to do to improve the situation of today's pensioners on low incomes as well.'
South Wales Argus
35 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
UK-wide strategy needed to tackle pensioner poverty, says committee
The Government should also decide on – and ensure – a minimum level of retirement income, the Work and Pensions Committee urged. Once set, a plan should be created for everyone to reach that level, it added. Given that the state pension is the core of the Government's offer to pensioners, a guiding principle should be that it provides the amount needed for a 'minimum, dignified, socially acceptable standard of living', the committee said. It urged the Government to commit to a UK-wide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society, that it said would help target support to tackle pensioner poverty. If it does not effectively tackle poverty as one of the causes of ill-health, 'the Government will not be able to achieve its goal of building a health and social care service that is sustainable', the Pensioner Poverty report warned. The report also highlighted longer-term trends that 'threaten to undermine pension adequacy', such as people renting into later life. The committee also called for a pension credit take-up strategy for England by the end of 2025. Despite being worth up to £4,000 a year, the take-up of pension credit has hovered between 61% and 66% for a decade, with an estimated 700,000 households being eligible but not claiming, the committee said. A taper to pension credit should also be considered to 'mitigate the cliff-edge effect' for those who currently miss out, the report said. Under current rules, some pensioners just above income thresholds could end up worse off than those with slightly lower incomes, it added. Pension credit can 'passport' recipients to other benefits such as housing benefit, council tax support, the warm homes discount, a free TV licence, help with dental treatment and, in winter 2024/25, the winter fuel payment. The committee argued that reliance on top-ups such as pension credit and housing benefit is not sufficient to ensure people do not fall below the poverty line. The report said: 'After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021.' It continued: 'The number of people of pension age living in relative poverty (below 60% of median income) is 1.9 million or 16% of pensioners. 'Measures which factor in the cost of living show that between 2008/09 and 2022/23, the number of pensioners in households below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS)—the amount needed for a minimum dignified socially acceptable standard of living—rose from 1.5 to 2.8 million. 'The proportion of pensioners below 75% of MIS (where the risk of material deprivation increases substantially) rose from 5.9% in 2021/22 to 9.5% in 2022/23. 'In practice, this means cutting back on essentials, like food, energy use and seeing friends, in an attempt to manage costs. Health experts explained the implications for health. Financial hardship can accelerate the ageing process, making it more likely that an older person will enter hospital or need care.' The committee said that in some places, organisations are working together towards shared objectives. The report continued: 'However, not all areas do this. We heard that it would help to have a national cross-government strategy for our ageing society and older people. 'This could provide a framework to hold the different partners to account for their role in delivering the agreed outcomes. It could also ensure that central government departments developed policy with shared objectives in mind.' Committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams said: 'To boost incomes, the Government needs to come up with a strategy to increase pension credit take-up. It's a scandal that so many have missed out for so many years, often through an aversion to claiming benefits altogether, or lack of support. 'The fairness of the pensions credit eligibility criteria where if you are a penny above the threshold, you miss out on thousands of pounds, also needs to be looked at. 'Ultimately, the Government should decide what it thinks is enough for a dignified retirement, and then work to ensure that all pensioners are on at least that level. 'Faced with a combination of high energy costs, ill-health and ever higher rates of pensioners in more costly privately rented accommodation, tackling pensioner poverty is not simply a DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) issue. So, we're calling for a nationwide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society that should be rooted in equity and wellbeing.' On Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that a review into raising the state pension age is needed to ensure the system is 'sustainable and affordable'. The Government review is due to report in March 2029 and Ms Reeves said it was 'right' to look at the age at which people can receive the state pension as life expectancy increases. The state pension age is currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028 and the Government is legally required to periodically review the age. A Government spokesperson said: 'Supporting pensioners is a top priority, and thanks to our commitment to the triple lock, millions will see their yearly state pension rise by up to £1,900 by the end of this parliament. 'We have also run the biggest-ever campaign to boost pension credit take-up, with nearly 60,000 extra pensioner households being awarded the benefit, worth on average around £4,300 a year. 'But we know there is a real risk that tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, which is why we are reviving the Pension Commission, to tackle the barriers that stop too many people from saving.' Emma Douglas, wealth policy director at Aviva, said: 'The pensions industry – alongside a revitalised Pensions Commission – has a critical role to play in helping people save for retirement and then turn their hard-earned pension pots into lasting financial security. 'With many people likely to manage their money well into their 90s, we must ensure those savings work harder and stretch further – especially as later life can bring complex challenges like cognitive decline.' She said that Aviva and Age UK were exploring a 'mid-retirement MOT' to help give people tools, guidance, and confidence to stay financially resilient throughout retirement. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'We warmly welcome this thoughtful and wide-ranging select committee report, which comes closer to providing a thorough and progressive strategic overview of the issues facing older people on low incomes and proposing workable solutions than anything successive governments have produced in recent years. 'When the Government announced the launch of the Pensions Commission earlier this week, ministers made it clear that its task is to think about the creation of a better system for future pensioners. 'This is necessary and important, but this committee report reinforces the point that there's work to do to improve the situation of today's pensioners on low incomes as well.'
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
UK-wide strategy needed to tackle pensioner poverty, says committee
The Government should also decide on – and ensure – a minimum level of retirement income, the Work and Pensions Committee urged. Once set, a plan should be created for everyone to reach that level, it added. Given that the state pension is the core of the Government's offer to pensioners, a guiding principle should be that it provides the amount needed for a 'minimum, dignified, socially acceptable standard of living', the committee said. It urged the Government to commit to a UK-wide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society, that it said would help target support to tackle pensioner poverty. If it does not effectively tackle poverty as one of the causes of ill-health, 'the Government will not be able to achieve its goal of building a health and social care service that is sustainable', the Pensioner Poverty report warned. The report also highlighted longer-term trends that 'threaten to undermine pension adequacy', such as people renting into later life. The committee also called for a pension credit take-up strategy for England by the end of 2025. Despite being worth up to £4,000 a year, the take-up of pension credit has hovered between 61% and 66% for a decade, with an estimated 700,000 households being eligible but not claiming, the committee said. A taper to pension credit should also be considered to 'mitigate the cliff-edge effect' for those who currently miss out, the report said. Under current rules, some pensioners just above income thresholds could end up worse off than those with slightly lower incomes, it added. Pension credit can 'passport' recipients to other benefits such as housing benefit, council tax support, the warm homes discount, a free TV licence, help with dental treatment and, in winter 2024/25, the winter fuel payment. The committee argued that reliance on top-ups such as pension credit and housing benefit is not sufficient to ensure people do not fall below the poverty line. The report said: 'After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021.' It continued: 'The number of people of pension age living in relative poverty (below 60% of median income) is 1.9 million or 16% of pensioners. 'Measures which factor in the cost of living show that between 2008/09 and 2022/23, the number of pensioners in households below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS)—the amount needed for a minimum dignified socially acceptable standard of living—rose from 1.5 to 2.8 million. 'The proportion of pensioners below 75% of MIS (where the risk of material deprivation increases substantially) rose from 5.9% in 2021/22 to 9.5% in 2022/23. 'In practice, this means cutting back on essentials, like food, energy use and seeing friends, in an attempt to manage costs. Health experts explained the implications for health. Financial hardship can accelerate the ageing process, making it more likely that an older person will enter hospital or need care.' The committee said that in some places, organisations are working together towards shared objectives. The report continued: 'However, not all areas do this. We heard that it would help to have a national cross-government strategy for our ageing society and older people. 'This could provide a framework to hold the different partners to account for their role in delivering the agreed outcomes. It could also ensure that central government departments developed policy with shared objectives in mind.' Committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams said: 'To boost incomes, the Government needs to come up with a strategy to increase pension credit take-up. It's a scandal that so many have missed out for so many years, often through an aversion to claiming benefits altogether, or lack of support. 'The fairness of the pensions credit eligibility criteria where if you are a penny above the threshold, you miss out on thousands of pounds, also needs to be looked at. 'Ultimately, the Government should decide what it thinks is enough for a dignified retirement, and then work to ensure that all pensioners are on at least that level. 'Faced with a combination of high energy costs, ill-health and ever higher rates of pensioners in more costly privately rented accommodation, tackling pensioner poverty is not simply a DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) issue. So, we're calling for a nationwide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society that should be rooted in equity and wellbeing.' On Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that a review into raising the state pension age is needed to ensure the system is 'sustainable and affordable'. The Government review is due to report in March 2029 and Ms Reeves said it was 'right' to look at the age at which people can receive the state pension as life expectancy increases. The state pension age is currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028 and the Government is legally required to periodically review the age. A Government spokesperson said: 'Supporting pensioners is a top priority, and thanks to our commitment to the triple lock, millions will see their yearly state pension rise by up to £1,900 by the end of this parliament. 'We have also run the biggest-ever campaign to boost pension credit take-up, with nearly 60,000 extra pensioner households being awarded the benefit, worth on average around £4,300 a year. 'But we know there is a real risk that tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, which is why we are reviving the Pension Commission, to tackle the barriers that stop too many people from saving.' Emma Douglas, wealth policy director at Aviva, said: 'The pensions industry – alongside a revitalised Pensions Commission – has a critical role to play in helping people save for retirement and then turn their hard-earned pension pots into lasting financial security. 'With many people likely to manage their money well into their 90s, we must ensure those savings work harder and stretch further – especially as later life can bring complex challenges like cognitive decline.' She said that Aviva and Age UK were exploring a 'mid-retirement MOT' to help give people tools, guidance, and confidence to stay financially resilient throughout retirement. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'We warmly welcome this thoughtful and wide-ranging select committee report, which comes closer to providing a thorough and progressive strategic overview of the issues facing older people on low incomes and proposing workable solutions than anything successive governments have produced in recent years. 'When the Government announced the launch of the Pensions Commission earlier this week, ministers made it clear that its task is to think about the creation of a better system for future pensioners. 'This is necessary and important, but this committee report reinforces the point that there's work to do to improve the situation of today's pensioners on low incomes as well.'
