Even after cuts - is the office of Mayor still too dear?

If we told you that the current cost to Boston taxpayers of the office of Mayor was £1,000 a week, we expect that you would be surprised – if not shocked.

Well you’d better sit down then – before you fall down!
The current cost is a staggering £80,000 a year – more than £1,500 a week.
Now, there are proposals to review the cost … which would see it fall to either £68,000 a year, or £60,000.
The discussion will take place at tonight’s meeting of the Policy and Projects group of Boston Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee, and it follows a review of civic and mayoral activity which is considered to be a key project in Boston’s “transformation programme” and which was previously considered by various forums during the previous council term.
The office of Mayor dates back to 1545, and although it once carried a bit of clout, today it is primarily ceremonial.
Costs include allowances to the Mayor and deputy to cover such things as hospitality, personal guests at civic events, and attendance at charity or civic events where charges are made. The Mayor also gets a car - driven by one of the two Mayor’s Officers who each work 15 hours a week. Then there’s administrative support from the Civic and Member Services Officer who allocates 50% of her time to mayoral and civic activity.
The cost of all that? Around £55,000 a year.
The council hosts and arranges several civic and ceremonial events during the year which cost around £26,000.
The main events are the Battle of Britain Sunday service, Remembrance Sunday, the May Fair Proclamation - which costs about £1,500 for the reception - “Mayors Sunday,” and “Buoys and Beacons” - for which the hire of a boat is about £450 and buffet and drinks on board another £350.
Then there are the Service to the Community Awards made to three or four people each year. Commemorative scrolls are £150 each, the buffet about £500 and drinks another £150.
The cost of a reception after the council’s annual general meeting is about £650 and funded from the civic budget.
Other events are the Mayor’s Christmas reception, and a dinner, where civic heads and representatives of local businesses are invited in order to reciprocate their hospitality to the Mayor during the year. The cost? A budget of £2,300 is allocated with any overspend coming from the Mayor’s allowance. Members and officers who attend pay for their tickets.
Allowing for three community awards, the specified figures total £6,000 – which leaves £20,000 for the cost of the Battle of Britain Sunday service, Remembrance Sunday, plus the Mayor’s Sunday and Christmas bashes – and average of £5,000 each.
Most of these events are little more than exercises in mutual grooming, and the real question should be how much of this is really necessary – and not how can we trim the costs a bit?
Not that we would advocate it for a minute, but the cost Mayoral activities would fund most of a revived Party in the Park. Think about that.
A Performance Review Committee recommended a spending cut of 15% which would save about £12,000 a year, with the civic dinner to become fully self-financing
There is also scope for bigger savings - but that is set out in a report that is being kept secret from the hoi polloi – the taxpayers.
There is also a proposal to restore the seniority selection process to pick the mayor - on an accumulated service basis, so that a councillor’s previous service would be included in the seniority calculation.
On that basis, the next Mayor would be Kirton’s Conservative Councillor Colin Brotherton – after which things get complicated. The next seven all have equal service, and would be chosen by drawing lots. They are: Councillors Paul Kenny, Alison and Richard Austin, Michael Gilbert, Brian Rush, Helen Staples, and David Witts.

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