West Midlands mayor will add charge to your council tax bill

Andy Street has told the Telegraph he will ask you to pay to boost his budget



Taxpayers in the West Midlands will be forced to shell out extra cash to fund the newly elected West Midlands mayor’s budget, the Telegraph can reveal.

Mayor Andy Street has told the Telegraph he will be proposing to add a £12 charge to the annual council tax bill of the average band D property in Coventry and the wider West Midlands - including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall.

Warwickshire residents would not be affected by the rise as Warwickshire County Council remains a lower level non-constituent member of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) overseen by the Conservative mayor.

The mayor also confirmed that financial contributions made by member councils to the WMCA would fall slightly under the new 2018/19 budget proposals.

In the last budget, each constituent member council, including Coventry City Council, paid £250,000 each - while non-constituent members, including the Warwickshire councils, paid £25,000 each.

The WMCA is the first to declare its budget proposals, but it is understood a similar level precept will be proposed by the mayor of Greater Manchester, Labour’s Andy Burnham.

Mr Street told the Telegraph: “There will be a mayoral precept of £12. That’s exactly what was expected when the first devolution deal was set.

“It’s quite a small amount in the context of the wider council tax bill, and it could have been much more.

“We have tried to keep it tight.”

The appointment of a regional mayor, without a referendum on the issue, was a controversial move resisted by campaigners in Coventry.

Mr Street said: “It’s £2 for admin for the mayor’s office and the staff we have here, and then there’s £10 for capital investment.”

If the savings that were predicted to be made by creating the combined authority were achieved there would be no need for this.

Unwanted mayor puts in precept to cover the failure to achieve predicted savings!

Never forget, nor forgive, Coventry City council for selling us down the river.

West Midlands mayor loses first vote on extra £12 on council tax bill

The new mayor of the West Midlands has been dealt his first major blow in office.

Conservative mayor Andy Street lost his first vote as chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) when local council leaders rejected his proposed £12 charge to council tax bills.

Mr Street previously told the Telegraph that the charge, which was part of the WMCA’s Draft Budget and Mayoral Council Tax Precept, would help fund his budget.

However, at the meeting at the West Midlands Police Tally Ho Conference and Banqueting Centre, a vote to see if the authorities were “minded to approve” the proposal saw it rejected.

Coventry City Council leader, Cllr George Duggins, introduced an amendment which would mean the WMCA was not “minded to” approve the Mayor’s Budget.

Seconded by fellow Labour leader, Cllr Sean Coughlan of Walsall, Cllr Duggins’ amendment passed.

This setback for Mr Street does not mean that his proposed budget and council tax precept is off the table completely, with the final decision being made on February 9 at a WMCA board meeting.

I don't believe he'll give up easily. He'll fight for this harder than any West Midlands cause!

Mayor's office spend over £800K on consultants, but won't tell you who they are



The Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and the West Midlands Combined Authority have admitted to paying out £810,000 to private consultants in two years.

But the authority has refused to reveal who they are paying, because of 'data protection'.

It comes after a Freedom of Information request from a Coventry City Councillor revealed that one transport expert is currently earning up to £650 per day, or £3,250 per week reports Birmingham Live.

However, the authority have refused to name the individual, or their company.

Ed Ruane, a Labour councillor, had submitted Freedom of Information requests to the WMCA asking for details of the private consultants along with gifts, hospitality and expenses.

After missing the FOI response deadline, the WMCA finally revealed on Friday it was currently employing five consultants, including one at Transport for West Midlands earning up to £89.50 per hour, working out at £650 per day or £3,250 per week.

But it refused to name the consultants or their companies for ‘data protection’ reasons.

Cllr Ed Ruane, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Coventry City Council said: "He (Andy Street) is not open and transparent.

"He and his staff are not publishing on their website staff expenses as any local authority has done for years.

“They’re also refusing to disclose which consultants they’ve given public money to and how much to each one.

“All local authorities publish spending over £500 but not the combined authority. There’s no publicly available information about contracts and who has been paid what.

“He said he would be the most open and accountable mayor ever in terms of being accountable for spending public money and yet he’s not accountable in how he’s spending his current budget.

“This guy is saying he wants more and more government money and yet he’s not disclosing how he’s spending what he’s getting already.”

I can't stand Ruane, and I have doubts to what he was really trying to uncover here, but I'm glad he was digging. Street must not be allowed to hide behind the law, his expenditure (and the recipients) must be published for all to see.

Staggering £1m cost of just eight roles at Combined Authority



A Coventry councillor has criticised taxpayer-funded salaries on the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Taxpayers are footing a £1 million-per-year bill for just eight roles at the WMCA.

Chief executive Deborah Cadman is banking an eye-watering £191,000 salary after being appointed by Mayor Andy Street – almost £40,000 more than Prime Minister Theresa May

New figures also show that seven directors at the authority are earning between £105,400 and £125,000 per year.

Meanwhile, the annual cost of Conservative Mayor Street’s own office has spiralled to £440,000 – some £190,000 more than originally budgeted for.

This includes £81,600 a year paid to the politician’s chief of staff Andrew Browning, which is £2,600 more than the Mayor himself earns each year.

Councillor Ed Ruane has criticised the sums.

The Labour councillor said: “These salaries are extremely high for posts where the post-holders are managing very few staff if any at all.

“Despite many in the public sector facing pay freezes many Combined Authority bosses are continuing to pocket huge remuneration packages, with the number of people on six-figure deals actually going up since last year.

“The sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions about Andy Street’s priorities.

“These salaries will strike taxpayers as outrageous, especially at a time when services are being cut to the bone.

"Andy Street needs to explain why so many of his staff are paid this generously and what value their jobs provide to taxpayers of the West Midlands.”

Career civil servant Ms Cadman is the highest earner at the West Midlands Combined Authority, with the seven directors the next highest paid.

And I'll bet not one of them could hold down a job that pays as much in the real world.

The unwanted Mayoral office, and Street in-particular has been an unnecessary expense foisted on us by the disgraceful undemocratic actions of former leader of CCC, Ann Lucas, who will get her reward by being Coventry Mayor during our year of culture. Frankly, I wouldn't urinate on any of them if they were on fire.