Recent news and social media comments made by the Labour county councillor for the St John ward in Brecon have been questioned by residents and other councillors in County Hall. One quote from Cllr Dorrance regarding the recent budget stated; “Taking money from the pockets of working men and women in Powys is an absolute disgrace. Tory and Independent Councillors who voted for the budget should hang their heads in shame”.
To respond, Cllr Aled Davies, Powys County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Like all county councils in Wales, we are facing increasing costs as a result of extra demand on services and at a time when resources are under greater pressure than ever”.
“This means that difficult choices need to be made, especially when we have a £17million shortfall in the 2019/20 budget. The scale of action required to meet this challenge will drive huge change across the council”.
“However, yesterday’s budget decision does NOT mean a pay cut for our workforce. We will continue to maintain the existing £8.45 per hour for our lowest paid staff, which is well above the national living wage, until such time that the 2018 national pay award has been agreed. Cllr Dorrance is wrong and is deliberately misleading to assert that we are ‘Taking money from the pockets of working men and women in Powys’…… there is NO pay cut for Powys CC workers”.
“The Living Wage Foundation rate has been paid for 2 years but the last council took the decision not be fully accredited members to the foundation, instead it was agreed to review the rate each year”.
“The proposed national pay award for council staff, if agreed, would see the lowest paid employee pay increase to at least £8.50 per hour. This pay award has not been agreed yet as unions are consulting with their members. We are driving improvement throughout the council and our well-motivated skilled workforce is key to success”.
Cllr Iain McIntosh who represents the Yscir ward adjacent to Brecon, said: “I’m very disappointed, yet again, to hear of ‘Fake News’ comments made by Cllr Matthew Dorrance, this time about the recent budget. Cllr Dorrance has deliberately misled the public and then disclosed the way county councillors voted in an attempt to discredit us over an extremely important decision. I’m glad that the Deputy Leader and Finance Portfolio Holder Cllr Aled Davies has clarified the situation”.
Cllr McIntosh went on to say: “I’d like to know what Labour's budget would be? All I've heard is them complaining about a supposed drop in council workers’ pay, despite their wages NOT being cut? Why do they just concentrate on council employees, what about the rest of Powys residents? 'For the many, not the few' they claim, while pretending to kick up a fuss about the few and ignoring the many.
Let's have some decent ideas, rather than yet another 'scathing attack' or councillors being 'slammed' (all the Labour councillor's own words). People are tired of nasty politics, they'd rather see people engage in healthy debate and exchange ideas that work, rather than unhelpful attacks, misleading criticism and fake news. That helps nobody at all”.
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