This week, Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner Jane Kennedy is asking Southport residents to pay more council tax to keep police on the streets.
She is going to spend council tax payers’ money coming out on a self-promoting road show seeking our support to tax ourselves more to help keep local police numbers up. But how much is her own office currently costing local taxpayers?
Jane Kennedy, who was first elected as Merseyside Police & Crime Commissioner in 2012, sa ys that if she does not win the support of local people for a rise in council tax, then Merseyside Police will be left facing a further shortfall of more than £3.17 m illion – the equivalent of 64 police officers.
She said the Conservatives have left the force facing a “funding black hole.” Many local people are rightly concerned at the level of police cutbacks caused by central government cash cuts but other are asking questions about the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner herself – including how much she is costing local taxpayers every year.
The total cost of salaries for the 24 people who work in the office of Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner has been calculated by a local newspaper as being a fairly staggering £832,694. The figure could actually be higher than this as the calculation is based on assuming the lower end of the wage brackets for several of the positions.
The highest earner in the office is of course Ms Kennedy, who se ‘top liner pay’ is an arresting £85,000 per year. Mrs Kennedy left Parliament, where she had been on a Minister’s salary and employed her husband at ‘top whack’ as her assistant, after she had said that she was not “able or willing” to abide by the changes which would come about in the House of Commons as a result of the MPs’ expenses scandal. She added that she was dismayed at recommendations in the Kelly review into the future of Commons’ allowances which would bar MPs from having relatives on the payroll . and stop them claiming for mortgages on second home s .
Last year Ms Kennedy appointed a new deputy commissioner , Liverpool C ouncillor Emily Spurell, who is paid £31,800 for just three days work a week. Councillor Spurrell is the third Labour councillor to be given this extra cash bonus by Ms Kennedy on top of her Council pay.
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