Wednesday, December 14, 2016
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Out of the mouths of babes comes the spirit of Christmas
INSIDE
PHOTO: Kirsty Brookbanks
ALTERNATIVE PANTO Trinity offers different view on Cinderella. Page 74
THE FESTIVE FEASTS How to take advantage of your local food markets. Page 56
CHRISTMAS: The time of year when parents, relatives and friends watch the children in nativity plays at schools and churches. We cannot publish all the wonderful scenes that emerge, but believe this one really captures the moment. It’s of the two to four year olds at St Luke’s Nursery School in Tunbridge Wells taking part in the nativity play at the church
Undetected accounting mistake across a decade costs police £10million By Adam Hignett
adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk KENT POLICE has had to repay the Home Office almost £10million after an error in the annual accounts went unnoticed by the force for nearly ten years. The news comes at a time when the force, like many others, is battling to overcome budget cuts. Police finances, though, remain in a ’strong’ position. Because of a coding mistake, the police have been overclaiming from the government’s pension top-up grant each year since 2006.
Continued on page 4
Council rejects its own pay cut
CHARITY DINNER
The Lord’s Taverners celebrate £58,000 donation. Pages 5
‘We will be monstered for this by our friends in the media’ MEMBERS of the borough council – which is under pressure to make savings after budgets were slashed – last week voted against plans to reduce their personal allowance. The Joint Independent Remuneration Panel [JIRP] had suggested cutting the basic allowance from £5,500 per annum to £5,000. The body was established in 2001 to make recommendations on Members’ allowances for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, plus Sevenoaks and Tonbridge & Malling councils. If the cuts to the basic allowance were implemented, along with other changes in supplementary allowances, it would have shaved £20,000 from the current annual allowance budget of £360,000.
However, in the final Full Council meeting of the year on December 7, the councillors, who are not obliged to accept the recommendation, voted in favour of keeping the current allowance structure.
Lib Dems and Labour voted in favour of reducing allowance Out of the 45 councillors eligible to vote, 26 opted for the status quo, 12 abstained and 7 voted in favour of a cut. The debate proved divisive among the majority Conservative Party, while members of both the Liberal Democrats and Labour sought to reduce the allowance. Concern over reputational damage to the council was evident, with several
councillors repeating a warning by Cllr Bob Backhouse that the council risked being ‘monstored by the media’ if it rejected the recommendation. Others arguing for a cut said it would show ‘solidarity’ with council staff, who are facing a £292,000 reduction to their payroll in the next budget, and would be more in keeping with ‘austerity’. Those voting in favour of maintaining the current allowance said it helped to attract a more diverse talent pool, ensures the council is not dominated by a self-funding elite, and accurately reflects the true working hours of Members.
Full story page 12
PANTILES LOSES OUT Promenade pipped to the post in high street awards. Page 4