§ VICE-CHAIRMAN
§ 5.0 p.m.
§ Mr. Graham PageI beg to move, Amendment No. 314, in page 4, line 33 at end insert—
(4) A principal council may pay the vice-chairman for the purpose of enabling him to meet the expenses of his office such allowance as the council think reasonable.
§
With your permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that of the House I wonder if we could discuss at the same time Amendments No. 317, in page 14, line 11, at end insert—
(4) A principal council may pay the vice-chairman for the purpose of enabling him to meet the expenses of his office such allowance as the council think reasonable.
§
No. 579, in page 72, line 22, leave out from 'chairman' to 'deputy' in line 23 and insert—
'or vice-chairman and in the case of the Greater London Council the office of'.
§
No. 599, in page 207, line 5, at end insert—
(4) A London borough council may pay the deputy mayor such allowance as the council think reasonable for the purpose of enabling him to meet the expenses of his office.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerThat will be in order provided the House agrees, but on the same conditions as before, discussing them now but deciding upon them in their turn as they occur on the Order Paper.
§ Mr. Graham PageThese Amendments, Nos. 304, 317, 599 empower county councils, London borough councils, district councils, and district councils with the status of a borough, to pay their vice-chairmen or, as the case may be, their deputy mayors, allowances to meet 60 the expenses of their office. The amount of the allowance would be fixed by the council. I am sure the hon. and right hon. Members will know from experience of their constituencies the amount of social and ceremonial work which a vice-chairman or a deputy mayor is called upon to do.
There is no reason why a deputy, merely because he is a deputy, should meet the expenses of his office out of his own pocket; there is no greater reason why he should than that the chairman should. If he is to carry out the duties of his office as a deputy he should be entitled to an allowance for doing so. It would be, of course, at the discretion of the council both to grant the allowance and to fix the amount of it. The Amendments provide for the payment of the allowance only to one vice-chairman or deputy mayor of a council. I do not think there is any need to go further. If we did I think it would encourage a proliferation of appointments and that we would get the Gilbertian situation where everyone is somebody and no one is anybody.
§ Amendment agreed to.