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5.3 percent increase in allowances for County Councillors
28/03/2023
The award is being backdated to April 2022
Oxfordshire County Councillors have agreed a 5.3 per cent increase in their allowances – backdated to April 2022.
The basic allowance which all County Councillors receive will go up by £636 to £12,636.
Those with positions of responsibility will receive additional money. The Leader of the Council will be paid £37,908 from April 1 – that’s an increase of £1,809.
The uplift amount is in line with the percentage rise in employee costs for the council, following the 2022-23 Local Government pay award. This was recommended by an Independent Remuneration Panel.
The increase is being backdated to April 2022 to bring the allowances into line with where they would have been had the Panel’s suggestions not been rejected by Councillors at a meeting in December 2020.
Council Leader Liz Leffman said she understood some Councillors would feel uncomfortable about the increase, bearing in mind the current cost of living crisis, but for others the income was important in their ability to be a Councillor.
She said: “I recognise that for some people, councillor allowances are really important, an important part of their income. People need to get to be able to undertake their role as a councillor and it’s therefore important that they are properly looked after in terms of their allowances.
“But I also recognise there will be some in this Chamber who think that it is not appropriate at the present time to be talking about increasing Council allowances because of the difficulties that many of our residents are currently facing, with the cost of living.”
Councillor Leffman reminded Councillors that for those who felt uncomfortable about the increase they didn’t have to take it.
The proposal was accepted.
District councillors in Cherwell agreed to a 2.75 per cent increase in their allowances in February, boosting the basic amount they receive by £132 to £4,836 per year. The same percentage was applied to positions of responsibility, including that of leader of the council, who can now receive £15,408 annually.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam