Lawrence Eke

Laurence Eke, Chair of the Brighton and Hove Liberal Democrats, has criticised Labour and the Greens for having political assistants paid for by taxpayers.

Mr Eke said:
"The cost of council political assistants is high enough in Brighton & Hove. Labour, the Tories and the Greens each take £34,986 of taxpayers money to pay a 'political assistant'.

"Only the Liberal Democrats don't have one.

"This 'non-job' is an affront to many people, who are forced into low-paid or part time work, or desperately seeking to get back into employment.

"The Green party have now gone one worse than the others after their's resigned.  A Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats found that a whopping £7,846 more of taxpayers money has now been spent to recruit a new political assistant for them.

"The overall cost of the post will be £42,832 this year.

"The wasteful Greens have shown their true colours. When everyone else is scrimping and saving to make ends meet, the council has wasted almost £8,000 on advertising and recruiting for this unnecessary post for the Greens.

"This comes in the same weeks as the council has to find over £3.5 million in cuts, threatening frontline jobs of the low paid.

"I would like to see the receipts and bills from this recruitment process, as this is a shocking waste of taxpayers money. When many employers are resorting to the internet to recruit people at a fraction of normal prices, how can the Greens on the council justify this obscene amount?

"This shows they are not able to run the finances of the city. A Green council with no sense of economic reality would quickly end up a bankrupt council.

"A final thought: One of the thousands of jobless of Brighton & Hove would have happily worked for 6 months for £8000. Next time you meet a Green Councillor, ask them if the money was well spent."

In response to the Liberal Democrats’ attack on the role of political assistants, Green Group Convenor Cllr Bill Randall said:
 
“I’m not surprised the Liberal Democrat members are launching an attack on the provision of assistants to other groups – because such appointments are only made in the event of a political group being large enough to need support. With only two councillors they don’t qualify.
 
“Further, their position is not shared by other Lib Dem groups of councillors around the country, such as their colleagues currently recruiting in Northamptonshire. In fact, the national Lib Dem party even has a dedicated award scheme where they celebrate the work of their many political assistants up and down the UK.
 
“The number of inaccuracies in their claims suggests they themselves need research assistance. The salary they quote is the absolute top cap, which our assistant does not receive. Nor is she a Green Party member - another Lib Dem mistake.
 
“Finally, the accusation that the Green Political Assistant is undertaking party-political work ‘on taxpayers’ money’ is a grave one.
 
“The assistant may only help the members in the ‘discharge of council functions’, and nothing else beyond that. They are first and foremost officers of the council, and are monitored by non-political line managers and lawyers. We as a group have been scrupulous about ensuring that this distinction has been maintained.”
 
For more information about the Liberal Democrats view:
www.brighton-hovelibdems.org.uk