Following news public sector pay would be frozen for at least two years, Cllr Parnaby said it was only right elected members of the council should also forgo any rise in [...]]]> MP for Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart, has backed calls by East Riding of Yorkshire Council leader Cllr Steve Parnaby OBE, to freeze members’ allowances.

 Following news public sector pay would be frozen for at least two years, Cllr Parnaby said it was only right elected members of the council should also forgo any rise in their allowances.

Graham said: “I absolutely agree with Cllr Parnaby that this is the right thing to do. It will show residents that councillors understand the pain which has been forced on the council as it faces budget cuts of around £30 million.

 “These are tough times. The sorry financial legacy left by 13 years of Labour is hitting everyone so I hope the rest of the elected members of the East Riding council support the leader and also vote not to increase councillor allowances.”

A councillor receives a basic allowance of £10,711 a year. Members of the council cabinet and those with other ‘special responsibilities’ receive additional allowances.

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, is to meet with members of the Humber Estuary Coastal Authorities Group and Environment Agency (Friday Nov 13) following the publication of the draft of the second Shoreline Management Plan (SMP2).

 The plan, which covers the coast from Flamborough in the North to Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire, in [...]]]>

Holderness coast

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, is to meet with members of the Humber Estuary Coastal Authorities Group and Environment Agency (Friday Nov 13) following the publication of the draft of the second Shoreline Management Plan (SMP2).

 The plan, which covers the coast from Flamborough in the North to Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire, in the South, sets out how and where the coast will be defended for the next 100 years.

 Graham said: “This is a draft plan and it is vital as many people as possible use the consultation period to make their feelings known.

 “This plan is an attempt at a compromise. It tries to strike a balance between what can be done and what should be done to either stop the natural processes of erosion or allow them to take their course.

 “So it is important residents in my constituency speak up and let the authorities know which parts of this plan are good and which are not.”

 Graham has orgainsed the meeting between the East Riding Council, one of the four local authorities involved in the plan, and the Environment Agency. Consultants who put the report together have also been invited.

 He said: “This plan will literally shape the Holderness coastline in future decades – it is vital it is right for as many people as possible.”

 And he added: “The Holderness coast is a living coastline – it has been since the last Ice Age. It is constantly on the move and we have always known that. The SMP gives everyone along the coast the chance to see, hear and even influence what is going to happen in the future.

  “While I fully understand many people will see the entire SMP as a complete waste of money, it must be remembered this is now part of an ongoing process – there will be future SMPs and the more often they happen the better we will all be able to assess what action needs to be taken by future generations.”

 Soaring council tax under [...]]]> Beverley and Holderness MP, Graham Stuart, has called for wasteful government spending on advertising and public sector consultants to be cut – in order to free up funds to help freeze council tax bills in the East Riding. Local taxpayers in Scotland have benefited from a council tax freeze yet again this year.

 Soaring council tax under Labour: Council tax in England has rocketed by 105 per cent – or an extra £726-a-year – since Labour came to power. In the East Riding, council tax bills have risen by 89 per cent or £695-a-year. But Scotland is enjoying another council tax freeze this year. Council tax bills are now £265-a-year less than in England on a Band D home. Conservatives pledge to freeze council tax: A Conservative Government would follow the Scottish example and work in partnership with local councils, giving them extra support so that they can freeze council tax bills. Over two years, new analysis shows that this would save a typical family in the East Riding £225 in tax. The cost to central government of reducing council tax would be met by spending less on government advertising and on public sector consultants.

 Wages of spin: Despite the strain on public finances, government advertising shot up by 20 per cent in 2008 alone. The Government is now the second biggest advertiser in the UK, just behind Procter & Gamble. Public relations, marketing and advertising now costs the taxpayer a colossal £400 million a year. Gordon Brown spent £54 million more of taxpayers’ money on advertising in his first year than Tony Blair in his last year. The Government is also planning to spend £4 billion on consultants over the next three years.

Wasteful advertising: Conservatives have put together a dossier highlighting examples of wasteful advertising, including: spinning a new ‘policing pledge’ at a time when many police forces are cutting police officers; running a ‘minimum wage Battlebus’ that only tours Labour areas; designing animated cartoons to sell discredited ‘eco-towns’; export campaign adverts that run in Britain rather than abroad; and neighbourhood policing adverts explicitly intended to prop up Labour’s local elections campaign.

 Grahamsaid:“Under this Government, council tax has soared across the country, pushing up the cost of living and hiking bills in the East Riding by 89 per cent. Families and pensioners facing the economic squeeze just cannot afford yet more tax rises from Gordon Brown. If Scotland can freeze council tax for its residents, so can we.

 “We can fund a freeze for hard-pressed council taxpayers by cutting Whitehall spending on government advertising and unnecessary public sector consultants. These changes will also help undo Labour’s damaging culture of spin and restore the integrity of civil servants in Whitehall.”