A Tory councillor has attacked new roles created for senior councillors which he says have no clear responsibilities.
Barry Macleod-Cullinane, deputy leader of the Conservative group, said £65,000 has been set aside to create a new 'special responsibility allowance' for up to ten councillors to serve as ‘portfolio advisers’ to members of the cabinet.
The new roles, which have no defined responsibilities, would come with an allowance of £6,630 a year.
But Cllr Macleod-Cullinane said a position of portfolio holder assistant, which has a £2,040 allowance and a defined job description, already exists.
He said: “It doesn’t say anything about its role, function or responsibility. There are certain things non-portfolio holders aren’t allowed to do which are set out by the constitution and by law.
“This new role will mean more people being paid for doing the same amount of work, and for some of the backbenchers it will be an 81 per cent increase in allowances.”
Cllr Macleod-Cullinane accused council leader Cllr Thaya Idaikkadar of making constitutional changes “on a whim” and paying councillors more money while raising council tax, making 230 redundancies, and cutting services.
Cllr Macleod-Cullinane added: “This is a huge amount of money and there is no sense in which this is used to drive down costs or help the community."
The plans will be voted on at the council's budget meeting on February 28.
The Harrow Times is awaiting a response from the council.
