Peterborough councillor says appointment of new £8,000 cabinet advisor sends 'uncaring' message

A Peterborough city councillor has said the appointment of a new cabinet advisor sends ‘a negative, uncaring message’ during the cost of living crisis.

Cabinet advisors are councillors who offer support to councillors in senior roles in the authority. A fifth advisor – Councillor Nicolle Moyo – has now been appointed, as Cabinet Advisor to the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Governance (cllr Andy Coles).

Cabinet advisors are given an extra £7,997 as a special allowance for taking up the role, on top of the £10,663 every councillor receives as their basic allowance.

Peterborough City Council recently announced that it was moving into an ‘era of permanent austerity,’ with a report saying the authority’s finances have been “eroded to tipping point.”

However, while there has been criticism of the the new role, leader of the city council, cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, defended the movem saying cabinet advisors were ‘extremely important.’

Cllr Chris Harper, leader of the Peterborough First group said: “Cllr Moyo is an excellent councillor and I have no doubt she will give her all as an advisor and although this administration will say the position was budgeted for, this just sends a negative uncaring message within days of announcing permanent austerity is upon us.

“Make no mistake, the council must find millions of pounds of savings across the board over the coming years or it will end up in special measures, so to appoint yet another advisor sends a disturbingly arrogant and uncaring message during the current cost of living crisis.

“Councillor allowances too must come under tight scrutiny and savings here too should be considered.”

Cllr Christian Hogg, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Peterborough said: “I find it strange that with the current financial position of the council where we are now looking to make numerous small savings where we can as the large savings have already been realised, the Council Leader is looking to increase the spend on Special Responsibility Payments.”

Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of Peterborough City Council said many authorities across the country used cabinet advisors. He said: “They (cabinet advisors) are extremely important to me and to the council as cabinet advisors take on some of the heavy load of what now are larger portfolios than previous years for most if not all cabinet members.

“In May this year I reduced the number of full cabinet posts to 7 and changed a number the delegations and responsibilities around to make a better fit. So, in the case of Cllr Coles he also took on many new areas of responsibility which made his portfolio much larger than last year, so it is not the same job at all as in previous years so should not be considered as like for like.”

Cllr Fitzgerald said cllr Moyo was ‘a very smart and talented young woman who is training to be a solicitor which are wholly transferable skills, and which are directly relevant to this portfolio.’

He added: "She also happens to be from an ethnic minority community and I'm keen to promote diverse talent from within my group particularly where it is generally thought by society to be underrepresented."