A former Brent councillor criticised asking taxpayers to pay for a £500 staff bonus for work during the Covid-19 pandemic in the council’s most recent budget.

Paul Lorber said the bonuses should not form part of the base budget for 2020/21-2022/23, which includes a proposed 4.99 per cent tax hike for next year and millions of pounds worth of cuts.

He explained he had no issue with awarding the bonuses but suggested they should be taken from the council’s reserves, rather than asking the taxpayer to fund them with new payments this year.

“It is the responsibility of the council to ensure the interests of local residents are protected as much as possible and, in connection with the budget, to ensure they are not paying twice for the same things,” he told a Brent Council cabinet meeting yesterday (Monday, February 8).

“There are a number of one-off expenditures which should be paid for out of the reserves.

“You as a council have decided to pay employees a bonus of £500 – that is fine, that’s your decision.

“But you shouldn’t be asking residents to pay for this out of the base for this year – it’s a one-off expenditure and that’s what some of the reserves are for.”

Mr Lorber added the decision to cover the increase in the number of people being paid the London Living Wage (LLW) under its contracts through the base budget was also unfair on taxpayers.

Again, he said he took no issue with the decision to spend more on LLW but argued this should come from the “specific reserves” meant to address such issues.

Cllr Margaret McLennan, who is responsible for resources at Brent Council, said the administration must be wary not to be “too reliant” on reserves.

She explained they are important to ensure residents are protected in emergency situations relating to finances and allow the council to support the borough’s infrastructure.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, said the decision to hand out bonuses to staff was a token of thanks for their ongoing work in “the worst pandemic in 100 years”.

He added it would go some way to compensate a lack of reward from the Government and suggested this responsibility had been “forced” on local authorities.

As well as the £500 bonuses, which will be awarded to those up to and including pay grade Hay 4, all Brent Council employees were given Christmas Eve off last year in recognition of their efforts in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.