Dorset MPs pledge to give away pay increase (From Bournemouth Echo)

Dorset MPs pledge to give away pay increase

7:00pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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SEVERAL Dorset’s MPs have pledged to turn down or give away a pay rise of nearly £1,000.

The increase was suggested by the Senior Salaries Review Board, whose recommendations are voted on by the House of Commons.

North Dorset Conservative MP Bob Walter, said he would be giving his increase to fundraisers supporting community hospitals in Blandford and Shaftesbury.

“When we are asking for pay restraint and freezes for senior public servants, it would not be appropriate to take this pay rise at this time,” he said.

“This pay rise has been determined independently in line with salaries in the public sector, but I believe we should set an example to public servants at a time of pay restraint.”

The new Independent Parliamentary Salaries Authority will replace the SSRB from next month, making this increase the last voted for by MPs.

Employment minister and South Dorset MP Jim Knight said all ministers would be turning down the pay rise, adding that the money saved would revert to the tax payers.

But Bournemouth West’s Conservative MP Sir John Butterfill, who will stand down at the general election, said the rise was easier to decline for cabinet ministers earning over £100,000 than for lower-salaried back benchers. “Whatever we were offered would rather difficult for the public to accept given the current situation. On the other hand, given that pay has risen by less than the Retail Prices Index for about 10 years, it may not be unreasonable,” said Sir John.

Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid-Dorset and North Poole, had not yet made up her mind between declining the rise and following her party’s proposal for all public sector workers to accept a flat £400 pay rise.

Bournemouth East Conservative Tobias Ellwood said he wouldn’t be accepting the 1.5 per cent increase, and said a future Conservative government would reduce ministerial salaries by five per cent.