The Green Party has been accused of using local taxpayers’ money in Leeds to top up the income of its deputy leader, Mothin Ali. A row broke out on 19 August after two Green councillors publicly criticised the allocation of a £5,800 special responsibility allowance (SRA) by the local party’s Green Group to Ali, who is also a member of Leeds City Council. An SRA is an additional payment given to councillors who take on special roles within the council, such as leader or committee chair. They are intended to remunerate councillors for work conducted locally, not to supplement national political activities.
The councillors, Cristiana Mirosanu and Eden Hills, both posted statements on Instagram criticising the decision and the Green Group’s conduct once it was made public. Their posts followed a report in Private Eye, which first revealed that the group had awarded Ali the allowance.
Leeds City Council has confirmed to the New Statesman that it will conduct a review into the allocation. Questions remain over whether the arrangement broke council spending rules and whether Ali will be required to return the money he received through the allowance.
According to Mirosanu’s statement, the allocation of an SRA to Ali was first discussed at a meeting of the Leeds Green Party group on 19 May. An email sent to local members by Ed Carlisle, another Green councillor, ahead of the meeting included a proposal to allocate one of two £5,800 SRAs available to the Green Group to Ali. The email claimed Ali feels the national party “isn’t adequately supporting the leadership team, including him”.
A spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales told the New Statesman: “Mothin does not recognise these words.” They added: “These are personal notes proposing items they’d like to add to the meeting agenda and are not part of a formal agenda or minutes.”
According to Mirosanu’s statement, Ali was allocated an SRA at the May meeting. She claimed that, at a subsequent meeting held on 10 August, after the group had been approached by Private Eye, it was decided that Ali would be given the role of spokesperson for Leeds Green Group and that the group would speak to the council’s legal department about the original SRA decision. Mirosanu said the group decided that, if the role of spokesperson was not viable, the group would appoint Ali its co-deputy leader. It is unclear if Ali was given either role.
In their Instagram statements, Mirosanu and Hills called for Ali to return any money he received via the SRA system before he was given an official council role. Hills said: “My position remains that, where any funds were allocated in error, those funds should be returned to the council along with a full and frank apology.” Mirosanu said that both Ali and the Green Group leader in Leeds, Penny Stables, should be suspended pending an investigation, and called on the group to issue a formal apology. Mirosanu also asked the council to investigate the matter.
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The Green Group now has more than 10 per cent of the council’s members, so it is entitled to two opposition group officer-holder allowances. Groups have discretion over which members they designate to these roles. Given the concerns raised, the council has agreed to review the circumstances surrounding the nomination for receipt of the allowance, based on the evidence available to us. As this is an ongoing review, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this time.”
[Further reading: Steve Bray is ready to move on]
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