Green Party Councillor Henry Nottage, who is a member of South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, has called on the South Yorkshire Mayor to drop plans to appoint a Deputy Mayor for policing.
Following revelations of a £65 million of unaccounted debts in South Yorkshire Police Authority’s budget, Councillor Nottage has asked for the money that was to be for the salary of a political appointee as Deputy Mayor, to be reallocated to better financial management.
Councillor Nottage said following today’s South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel,
“In West Yorkshire the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is paid an annual salary of £72k per year. Given the financial mismanagement of the Police Authority it seems the money would be better spent on better administration of the public money entrusted to them, rather than on a big salary for a Labour Party appointee.
“The £65 million of debts that were not accounted for in the policing budget could have a serious knock on effect on policing in South Yorkshire. We have all seen the increasingly difficult issues that frontline police have had to deal with locally and they need the reassurance and certainty that they will not lose the resources they need to do their very difficult job.
“Rectifying this serious financial situation in the medium term will mean spreading out the cost of this error over several years. What we can’t risk with all the additional ramifications that would entail.
“It is clear that financial management in the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was under-resourced, making mistakes much more likely. Giving a choice of a potential £50-70k to a new politician or someone to ensure the financial controls are more robust, I know which I would choose.”
