14 April (Part 2) - Gareth Bacon goes. He explains the timing and the Labour Leader responds
Following councillor
Gareth Bacon’s announcement last night that he would
vacate his cabinet member and deputy leader roles at Bexley council at the end of the civic year
on 20th May, his reasoning is reported in some detail by the Bexley Times.
The following is an extract. Click for source web page.
It must be a strange relationship when one’s wife can go abroad and be totally
beyond contact. It was fortunate that the Bacon family did not suffer an
emergency whilst Cheryl was away without her mobile phone.
The Bexley Times has also reported Labour leader Alan Deadman’s reaction. His full statement follows.
Leader of the Bexley Labour Group, Councillor Alan Deadman who sits on the
Resources Scrutiny Committee was present at the meeting when Tory Councillor
Gareth Bacon confirmed he was stepping down from his role as Deputy Leader of
the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services.
Tory Councillor Gareth Bacon announced yesterday (Monday
13 April) at the Resources Scrutiny Committee that he was standing down from his
position as Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services.
He was reportedly paid £17,595 for the Cabinet roles, which was in addition to the
other salaries he gets for holding other local government positions.
The Evening
Standard stated on 26 February that Councillor Gareth Bacon could be
London’s highest paid councillor with his combined public salary of £108,174.
Despite Tory Councillor Gareth Bacon standing down as Deputy Leader of the
Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services, he still holds
the following local government positions:
· £26,000 for Chairman of the London
Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
· £55,161 for sitting on the London Assembly
· £9,418 for being a Councillor
· Claims on top of his large salary for a £2,228 London-wide travelcard from the London Assembly
Councillor Alan Deadman, Leader of Bexley Labour Group said: "I am relieved to see that Tory
Councillor Gareth Bacon has finally seen sense by taking into consideration the
concerns that I have raised about him juggling these four local government positions.
“It really wasn’t right that he was lining his pocket with £108,174 of taxpayers money, whilst
honest decent people in Bexley are struggling to make ends meet”.
“I also had grave concerns as the job of a
Cabinet Member for Finance plays a big role with regards to making decisions on
which public services to cut and protect”.
Councillor Deadman is out of date in one small respect. An Annual Travel Pass is a £2,344 perk of the job since January 2015.
News Shopper’s similar report.