My problem is not with the repayment three councillors divided for their proper expenditure, reported to be £80,000 (The Argus, June 23), it is the lack of funds for the very small expenses which many volunteers who work in partnership with the council have but never get back.
Government policy for joined-up communities is to involve as many stakeholders and citizens as possible in consultation and decision-making.
Why should volunteers, performing a necessary public function and giving hours of skilled time, not even receive their bus fares while councillors and officers are paid thousands of pounds to attend the same meeting?
I chair Brighton and Hove Private Sector Housing Forum, attending several meetings a week.
Members of its sub groups on projects like the Handy Person Scheme and Housing Benefit Improvements, which have made a practical difference to our lives, spend hours correcting minutes and agendas given us by well-paid officers.
Our Leasehold Sub-Group spent two years on a report on the council's Managing Agents' Registration Scheme.
The group received no acknowledgement at all, although the results were referred to in Parliament.
A disabled member of the Forum Steering Group resigned because she had no transport to come to meetings unless she paid for her own taxi.
A recent audit valued the contribution of the voluntary sector in the city as important as hotel and catering.
While the councillors and officers are paid and repaid, many skilled volunteers continue year after year, doing essential work and ending up out of pocket.
-Shula Rich, Chairwoman, Brighton and Hove Private Sector Housing Forum, First Avenue, Hove
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