Final version of Argyll First’s first motion to Council

The new political group in Argyll and Bute Council, Argyll First, has finalised its first motion to the full meeting of Council.

The motion and the rationale for it are self explanatory and are given verbatim below.

What is timely in the proposal put forward is that Argyll, Scotland and the UK are facing a prolonged period of serious cuts to retrieve the unimaginable level of national debt bequeathed by the Blair-Brown administrations.

Jobs are going to be lost in significant numbers, bringing the reality into individual homes. Public spending cuts will be severe, imperilling some businesses.

The general public know that this is unavoidable. There is a time to pay and this is it.

Some UK unions are promising widespread strike action in protest. While this is the most irrresponsibly destructive piece of attempted political opportunism in this situation, it highlights a very real problem which the Argyll First motion works to address.

There will be a large swathe of the population – those who lose their jobs and whose businesses go down – who cannot be cushioned from the national price to be paid because it will hit them directly.

If others, in the fortunate position of having jobs buttressed against pretty well everything, are seen to carry on as before, it will fuel the call for strikes, breed resentments and embed – with reason – the picture of a society with a sector of the population that is nothing other than a sacrificial anode.

Argyll First’s motion seems to us to address this potentially dangerous situation head on.

The motion

‘All elected members, the chief executive, Executive directors and Heads of service consider taking a voluntary 10% cut in their remuneration effective from 1st September 2010′.

The motion is proposed by Donald Kelly of the Argyll First Group and seconded by Douglas Philand of the Argyll First Group.

The rationale

‘The rationale for the cut is that,following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s speech recently, it is plain that there is going to be a substantial reduction in Public Service spending.

‘The leader of the council and the chief executive spoke prior to the last full council meeting on the 24th June 2010, intimating that Argyll and Bute Council have to save in the region of £9 to £15 million each year over the next 3 years.

‘The general consensus of the Argyll and Bute communities is that if cuts are to be made, senior officers of the council and elected members should take the lead by reducing their remuneration.

‘This motion is therefore being presented before the Full council for its consideration’.