£100,000 For Councillor Pay Rise Should Be Spent On Free Public Transport For Young People Seeking Employment

Cllr van de Ven
(LD, Melbourn)

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have put a motion to council on March 23rd - the same meeting where councillors will vote again on their allowances - calling for a freeze in councillor allowances and for the £100,000 set aside by the Conservatives for a possible pay rise to be used to fund free public transport for young people seeking education, employment and training.

The £100,000 would be used to provide free public transport to help young people aged 16-19 make their first steps into education,employment or training, such as attending a job interview or visiting a college to learn more about its courses.

Lib Dem Transport spokesperson Susan Van de Ven said: "Lack of access to transport can provide a real obstacle to young people struggling to find employment or to get back into education or training.  In view of this, we think it would be fairer to to use the £100,000 set aside by the Conservatives for a councillor pay rise to provide free public transport to help young people aged 16-19 make their first steps into education,employment or training.  Something is seriously wrong if their future is not taking priority over a councillor pay rise."

Lib Dem group leader Kilian Bourke said: “It is a shame that the Conservatives made provision in this year’s budget for a £100,000 pay rise for councillors, so we are giving them the opportunity to reject that increase and reallocate it to core services. I cannot think of a more appropriate use for this money than providing free public transport for young people looking for a job or training."