Come out and vote county council begs hostile electorate

Now Chris Williams, the chief executive of Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) which has a budget of £700 million per year and employs 14,000 people, has taken the unusual step of urging the electorate to turn out and vote.
Mr Williams telephoned the Advertiser to say: "Candidates are picking up a lot of hostility on the door stop. Local politicians are being tarred with the same brush as Mps over expenses. But local councillors are not in it for the money, they are in it for the best interests of their community and they want to make a difference.
"We publish our expenses on our website every year and they are thoroughly vetted and backed up with receipts. I'm worried that because of the publicity at a national level people are going to be turned off."
Councillors on BCC claimed up to £49,000 in allowances and expenses in 2007-8, while councillors on South Bucks District Council claimed up to £11,600 in the same year.
The highest claim was by David Shakespeare, BCC leader, who received allowances of £49,317 and expenses of £4,875, most of which was for travel. However most county councillors received an allowance of £10,482 and travel claims were all lower than Cllr Shakespeare's with several claiming nothing.
Adrian Busby, leader of South Bucks District Council (SBDC), received allowances of £11,679 and claimed nothing for expenses. Most SBDC councillors received an allowance of £2,439 and travel/subsistence claims ranged from zero to £909, the most being claimed by Cllr Dhillon of Farnham Common.
District councillors typically have to prepare for and attend two evening meetings per week and have time for a job as well, but county councillors have more to do. At county level cabinet members - who receive over £30,000 in allowances - being a councillor is a full time job, according to Peter Hardy, a councillor on both councils, and a former leader of SBDC.