Undone by paragraph 12

If like me you have no life and are simply killing time until the grim reaper takes his inevitable swing then you may have found yourself perusing Gazette Supplement number 12 of 2009 which accompanies Gazette number 17. Of course you will have noticed paragraph 12 of the Members’ Remuneration Bill 2009 which basically states that a Councillor may take his/her partner on one overseas trip per term of office at the expense of FIG.

The initial reaction might be one of mild outrage that Councillors should be entitled to such a perk; we expect them to work their fingers to the bone on our behalf and in return receive a modest payment sufficient to keep starvation at bay, but nothing more. If the holiday credit scheme became an unjustified cost then clearly this goes well into the “indefensible” category as well. At the very least one would expect it to be a taxable benefit in kind but unfortunately a sudden attack of apathy prevented me from studying the Taxes Ordinance to confirm.

In these times of pressure on the FIG budget, Councillors might have taken the opportunity to make some political capital with a noisy abolition of the entitlement. However the fact that it’s still there isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it serves as a useful test of Councillors’ ability to stay in touch with the electorate and not fall foul of the many traps that lead to alienation. If any Councillor took advantage of paragraph 12 in these current times, then it would surely be a very strong invitation not to vote for them at the next election, should they stand. In fact even if times were good, I think it would be frowned upon. Goodness knows how this perk came about but it really does seem entirely inappropriate. Perhaps a little like the MPs expenses claims in UK – many were perfectly within the rules but just morally wrong.

So perhaps it should stay on as a simple test of Councillors’ moral mettle and we’ll stand ready to scorn any who might weaken: “my goodness, Councillor X has invoked clause 12, pass me my ballot paper”. The phrase “hoist by his own petard” might well be replaced with “undone by paragraph 12”.