Pendle Christmas Bonus (No. 2)

EDM number 999 in 1995-96, proposed by Gordon Prentice on 12/06/1996.

That this House unreservedly condemns the decision of the Liberal-controlled Pendle Council to axe the traditional ú5 bonus of 'Mayor's fiver' given to the borough's over eighties at Christmas; notes with regret that Council Leader, Alan Davies, described the gift as an anachronism from the past and that veteran Liberal councillor, Tony Greaves, criticised opponents for lacking the courage to scrap the bonus; notes that Liberal councillor, Tim Haigh, believed it was a matter of having the moral courage to cut the bonus; considers the protestations from Liberal councillors that the cut was necessary to save money do not set well alongside the revelations in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph of 12th June that top council staff enjoyed a multi-thousand pounds knees-up hours before the decision was made to axe the Christmas bonus; finds it astonishing that, in the present climate of belt tightening in Pendle, long serving council employees received up to ú300-a-head in gifts, paid for by Pendle's council taxpayers, and that the council's Chief Executive received a barbecue, painting and a lawnmower and the Development Director received a mountain bike and that other gifts reportedly included camcorders, hi-fis and CD systems, leather chairs and golf clubs; believes expenditure on these gifts to be wholly inappropriate at a time when the borough's pensioners also face the possibility of having their traditional Christmas lunches taken away from them; and calls on the Liberal Council to acknowledge the public's feeling of disquiet and reinstate forthwith the ú5 Christmas bonus which recognises, albeit in a modest way, the contribution made by the over-eighties to the life of the borough today and in years gone by.

This motion has been signed by a total of 30 MPs.