Councillor calls for change to regain trust in politics (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Councillor calls for change to regain trust in politics

3:22pm Friday 26th June 2009

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A COUNCILLOR is demanding more transparency in the financial controls of Stockton Borough Council following the fall-out from the MPs’ expenses furore.

Coun Phillip Broughton, the Conservative member for the Grangefield ward in Stockton, has already met senior officials from the borough council to discuss the matter.

He said: “The expenses issue is an issue of great concern to the public; it affects all levels of elected politicians, whether it be councillors, MPs or MEPs. People are rightly angry about this; we have to put these issues right for the good of our democracy.

“I was out campaigning for five weeks during the recent European elections. There is anger and distrust with the political system from the public. We have to address this at every level. We have got to clean up the system in order to regain people’s trust.

“The BNP getting elected shows the potential danger of the current situation. We must act now to give people confidence once again in politics.

“These issues are important – they go to the heart of our democracy. We have to do something – inaction is not an option. We must restore trust in politics.”

Coun Broughton has recommended four changes which will be taken to the next members’ advisory panel of the council for discussion.

They are:

● Reducing the number of councillors per ward from three to two;

● Councillors losing the ability to vote on their own pay, instead handing the issue over to a completely independent body;

● All councillors’ expenses to be published online. Coun Broughton has already taken steps to make his own expenses available on the internet;

● Having more open public debates.

He said the first two suggestions would require a change in central Government law, so a challenge would have to be sent to Whitehall.

The second two could be implemented on a local level.

“People don’t see any difference between the varying levels of politics, they just see a system they don’t trust, so let’s start dealing with these issues,”

he said. “If we do, then we can start engaging people in the real issues of the day, instead of talking about expenses all the time.”

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