HALTON council which is facing £22m budget cuts has come under fire over plans to hire two personal chauffeurs for its civic Mayor and Mayoress.

Halton council is looking to spend over £20,000 on two mayoral attendants to drive Mayor John Bradshaw and his wife Marjorie to and from their engagements.

As well as driving, the successful candidate will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining the mayoral vehicle, ensuring the mayor’s parlour is 'well presented and stocked', and generally supporting the mayor and his wife in their civic duties.

The role for a mayoral attendant/chauffeur is offering the two chosen candidates up to £10,597 per year for a role working 21 hours a week.

The job advert posted on the council website says: “You will be responsible for driving the Mayor/Mayoress to and from civic engagements and in doing so will use your excellent organisational and planning skills to meet strict timescales; whilst ensuring a safe arrival and dignified reception.”

Deputy leader Cllr Mike Wharton said at the time the role was 'great value for money' because the mayor will on average attend more than 400 engagements per year, including charity events.

But Cllr Wharton also announced at a budget meeting in March that £22m of cuts over the next three years are threatening to reduce council services across Runcorn and Widnes.

And with council tax having gone up as a result of those cuts – the rise in 2018 being 5 per cent – the decision to recruit two drivers for the  Mayor has  not gone down well with some.

Runcorn resident Dave Myers said: “I do think it’s totally unnecessary at that price. I am sure it could be done cheaper.

“With the cuts we have seen to the Special Educational Needs (SEN) budget  the council have made, they have got to be a bit more scrupulous with their spending.

“The council have had all these problems with the bridge recently so they way they are spending money is well under the public eye. They need to be doing things differently and show the people of Halton they are worthy of their place.”

David Coveney, chair of the Halton Liberal Democrats added: “You have to question, in this time of austerity, how much Halton Borough Council should be spending on the Mayor’s ceremonial duties and whether savings could be made that could be better spent elsewhere.

“The money allocated for these job roles could, for example, be used to fund an additional teaching assistant, a social worker, or an environmental protection officer instead – all of which most of us can agree we’re short of in the area.”

Mayor John Bradshaw, who is also a Conservative councillor, was contacted for comment.

A spokesperson for the council confirmed that the position is not a new role and because the previous mayoral attendant died  'after many years’ service'.

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