I’ve just heard Eddie Gabrielsen of UNISON, the trade union representing the largest section of organised workers in Neath Port Talbot, calling on council members to consider cutting their allowance when the rate comes up for annual review. He would like to see us make equal sacrifices to those of the council staff paid over £21,000 a year, who have agreed to a one-off pay cut of 2% as part of a deal to save jobs.

Speaking for myself, this would be no hardship. As this posting shows, I supported Tony Taylor (member for Aberavon) in 2009 when he unsuccessfully moved that the council should not accept the recommended uprating that year, and then with the majority on the council when the message got home that we should not take an increase for 2010/11.  The allowance is not a wage, nor should it be regarded as such in my opinion, but there may be some members who depend on it to maintain a decent standard of living. So I would not condemn out of hand members who do not support a cut, but I trust that once again we will resist an increase.

The presenter of “Good morning, Wales” also asked a local government expert (apologies for not catching either name) why Neath Port Talbot was able to strike a pay and redundancy deal with its staff side when Manchester, another Labour-controlled council, was resorting to mass sackings. The first answer is that English councils received a far worse settlement from central government than we did in Wales. It is easy to mock Cheryl Gillan – and, clearly, an MP with a Welsh constituency would have been preferable as Secretary of State for Wales – but she resisted cuts for Wales much more stoutly than Eric Pickles did for local government in England.

Also, this council planned ahead. Realising three years ago that the good times for government settlements on local government were over for the foreseeable future, officers budgeted ahead for retrenchment and the council, importantly, took the unions into their confidence. The result has been a more healthy atmosphere for collective bargaining and agreement, rather than coercion.

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