A “PAY rise” of four per cent is coming the way of Exeter City councillors.
Members of the executive committee voted to accept figures suggested by an independent panel which looks at the allowances councillors get.
The basic allowance is to rise by £261 to £6,798 per councillor, with similar increases in the special responsibility allowances for specific jobs.
It means the annual “salary” of council leader Phil Bialyk – the basic allowance plus the special allowance – will rise from £27,782 to £28,913.
Executive members with portfolios will have their allowances increased from £17,976 to £18,695, while the chair of the planning committee sees their allowance rising from £13,074 to £13,596.
Other committee posts rise by four cent each on a sliding scale down to the chair of the harbour board, whose allowance rises from £8,171 to £8,497.
Every council uses a remuneration panel to work out how much members get. The panel is completely independent of the council.
The new payments will come into effect from next April, and are designed to reflect the time spent on constituency work, community work and case work.
Cllr Duncan Wood (Lab, Pinhoe) stressed: “It’s an independent recommendation, it’s not us choosing to make our allowances larger.
“It’s recognition of the work we do, and the impact of inflation.”
Guy Henderson
LDRS