Councillors give themselves a pay rise as they hike council tax

Civic chiefs in Gloucestershire have voted to give themselves a pay rise on the same day they agreed to ask residents to pay more council tax.

Gloucestershire County Council approved a tax increase of 4.99% on Wednesday.

This will mean households in band D properties will see the proportion of the annual bill which goes towards the county council increase by £72.42 to £1,523.78 in the upcoming financial year.

But councillors who claim an allowance will actually be quids from April in as they voted for a 6% increase.

The average councillor will be entitled to an extra £645 as the basic allowance will increase from £10,750 to £11,395 a year.

The special responsibility allowances are also increasing by the same percentage meaning the council leader will be entitled to an extra £2,030 as the allowance rises from £34,170 to £36,200.

Cabinet members will be entitled to £20,250 a year while the council chairman allowances rises to £10,140.

Group leaders with five or more members can have £6,740 and those with less than five will be entitled to £5,390.

The chairmanship allowance for scrutiny, audit and governance, planning and pensions committees are each entitled to an allowance of £6,740 while members of the fostering panel have a £6,070 allowance and the vice chairman £3,030.

Richard Blamey, who chairs the independent remuneration panel, said the committee’s approach is “extremely thorough” and that there are no “hidden agendas”.

“This year we interviewed 13 councillors and these face to face meetings proved to be really useful.

“This year we’ve analysed the data and much has changed over the last year. Looking at it today, Gloucestershire is well below the average of other county councils.”

He said staff have received a pay increase of £1,924 which equates to around 6% for the average employee.

It’s necessary to put forward an increase of the same percentage for councillors, he said.

There was no debate about the proposals, councillors went straight to the vote.

The recommendations were approved but not all voted in favour of the allowance increase.

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk