Councillors at West Suffolk Council to vote on £400 increase to their allowances

Councillors at West Suffolk Council will vote on an allowances scheme next week that would see them gaining £400 more a year.

The uplift would take the basic allowance to just under £6,726 and be based on a pay award for other council staff members awarded this year. It would deplete the council’s budget by £37,143.

The council’s independent remuneration panel took this year’s £1,925 pay rise for all council staff, found out the percentage increases this meant for those on different pay levels and took an average of these percentages.

This average was 6.9 percent, which under the new scheme would be added to the previous basic allowance of £6,291.71 to make around £6,725.84.

Some councillors gain more than the basic allowance as they take on more responsibility and accountability.

Last year, the leader of the council gained 3.5 times the basic allowance in total, due to a special responsibility allowance of 2.5 times the basic allowance.

The council leader was given the highest special responsibility allowance; the deputy leader got the second highest at 1.5 times the basic allowance.

It is likely a similar system of special responsibility allowances would be implemented after a basic allowance uplift.

In October, Mid Suffolk District Council and Babergh District Council agreed to increase basic allowances by £1,000 to £6,510 after next year’s council elections.

The £1,925 pay rise for all council staff members was decided through the local government services pay agreement 2022-23 and implemented in April.

Independent remuneration panels include advisers without close links with the council; councillors must consider their recommendations but are not obliged to follow them when setting allowances.

West Suffolk Council will vote on the proposed allowance scheme at a meeting next Tuesday.