Archive for June 23rd, 2009

As the furore over MPs’ expenses rages on, the expenses claimed by local councillors has also come under scrutiny. Councillors, unless they are leaders or deputy leaders of the council, are not paid a salary, whereas MPs are. In Southend, just under half of councillors claimed no expenses at all for both 2007-08 and 2008-09. These...
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Conservative MP for Southend West David Amess has paid back part of the expenses he has claimed. Mr Amess’ expenses were published online last week. Since then, he has attracted criticism for claiming the maximum allowance for food when Parliament was not sitting, and for payments to consultancies without adequate invoicing information. Mr Amess has paid...
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Labour Councillor for Victoria Ian Gilbert has spoken to CouncilBust.com about his concerns over housing in the Victoria ward. In the full council meeting last week, councillors discussed the changes Tesco have made to their proposed building plan on the site near Southend Victoria Station. The supermarket chain originally said it would build affordable housing as...
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At the full council meeting last week, several local councillors expressed their disappointment and frustration with Tesco’s plans to drop affordable housing from its building plan in central Southend. The supermarket chain originally planned to build a new store on the B&Q site near Victoria Plaza, as well as new low-cost homes. Company staff now say,...
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