The much discussed extraordinary Wiltshire Council meeting to rescind the increases in members’ allowances will go ahead on Tuesday, February 4.

Ten Wiltshire councillors from the Independent, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties have submitted the necessary paperwork, which has been formally accepted by the council solicitor. Our action was in response to considerable urging from all sections of the county population, including many long-standing Conservatives.

This moves us on from the fiasco of the previously proposed Christmas Eve date for this meeting, set by the chairman of Wiltshire Council. All of us requesting an extraordinary meeting saw this date as a deliberate trap, designed to alienate council staff for whom this was an official holiday.

Now we can have a full and frank debate and hopefully wipe the slate clean, with no increases for at least the next year. The tide of public anger over the massive increases – up to 37 per cent for the leader and her cabinet – was so immense that something had to be done to restore local faith in the political process.

Without doubt this ‘grabbing’ behaviour had brought the standing of county politics to a historical low. Public contempt in the county is now bordering on the dangerous.

I am at a loss as to why the Conservatives behaved as they did. Perhaps it was just arrogance or political ineptness. Maybe the debate will come up with deeper reasons. However, the resultant vote will give the Conservatives a crucial second chance to publicly redeem themselves and forgo the massive increases. To the sake of politics in the county I hope that they rise to the occasion.

One final related point. The council leader has said that the likes of this February 4 Rescission Notice of Motion are the cause of a loss of staff morale at County Hall. This is utter nonsense.

Talking to various staff, I am told that a rolling series of redundancies, with more to come, extra workloads and revealed inequalities in income levels are the real causes. In their eyes our Notice of Motion is most welcome.

As I have said previously, the only way to deal with staff morale is to institute an independent survey and not rely on out-of-date council statistics.

Jeff Osborn, Independent Wiltshire Councillor, Chepston Place, Trowbridge.