Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors in East Suffolk have drawn up ideas designed to help combat cost-of-living pressures on residents and council staff.
East Suffolk Council will on Wednesday (September 28) vote on motions put forward by Labour councillor Peter Byatt on improved access to cost-of-living support, and Liberal Democrat councillor David Beavan on increased pay for council staff.
Mr Byatt will ask the council to agree to review the opening hours and staffing of its Lowestoft customer service centre and library support services, and assess whether these need to be expanded in light of the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: “We must not assume that everyone uses the internet, and others may not find using the phone easy.
“It is important, therefore, to offer residents the opportunity of a face-to-face discussion.”
Mr Beavan's resolutions aim to improve pay targets for the lowest earners among council staff. This will include restricting top salaries to less than four or five times median earnings, to pay for a minimum council wage target of 75 per cent of median national pay by 2030.
He said: “Energy prices have doubled and food prices are rising. Morally we must pay all our employees enough to feed their families and warm their homes this winter.
“At the moment we have 75 staff vacancies. Although we offer good pensions and conditions, it is becoming harder to recruit in a tight labour market as public sector wages have fallen by 27.5% since 2021 after inflation.
“On the other hand, I don’t think anyone needs to earn more than £100,000 in local government.
“We owe it to our hard working staff who stepped up in the pandemic to pay them enough so that they don’t have to go foodbanks.”
Mr Beavan explained that the current pay deal offers an increase of nearly £2,000 for all employees, and that the council are hiring a third strategic director on £105,000 and replacing the CEO, who made £200,000.
The Liberal Democrat councillor will also ask the council to write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State, calling on the government to fund competitive salaries for public servants, and to explore the feasibility of a three-month pilot for a four-day working week.
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