February 22, 2018 3.11 pm This story is over 73 months old

Mayor of Boston must make own travel arrangements from April

Cost-cutting measures have been agreed.
Mayor of Boston, Councillor Brian Rush said he tended to agree with people's views of Boston being "very bad".

Mayors of Boston will have to make their own travel arrangements from April as part of cost-cutting plans approved by the council’s cabinet.

Currently, the mayor uses an official chauffeured car but a taxi and transport will now only be provided in exceptional circumstances.

Allowances for the mayor and deputy mayor will be reduced to £4,000 and £1,000 respectively.

Attendance at events should now be restricted solely to ones happening in Lincolnshire.

The format of the Service to the Community Awards is to be reviewed with consideration that the event is held every other year instead of annually.

Boston Borough Council said that mayoral allowances and vehicle running costs of the 15-year-old car were £8,327.

Combined with other support costs, the total was £39,702.

These arrangements will come into force in the final month of current mayor Councillor Brian Rush’s tenure and before Councillor Judith Skinner takes over the reins.

Councillor Rush has faced calls to resign over alleged offensive and anti-Muslim posts on Facebook.

He insisted he would not be resigning but council leader Michael Cooper said that the council could move forward with removing his administrative support.

Deputy leader Councillor Michael Brookes said: “We have tried to do this sympathetically, but every service where the council spends money has to be looked at closely to see if we can save money. Most councils in Lincolnshire have gone in this direction.”