Public say on Northumberland councillor allowances

The package includes an increase of almost 40% in the basic allowance paid to all county councillors, putting it up from the current £9,143 to £12,500.

It also involves the council leader's special responsibility allowance - paid on top of the basic sum - going up from £19,000 to £27,000.

Now the panel's recommendations have been accepted in principle by the county council, but a final decision will not be made until February following a full public consultation exercise on the 2009/10 budget.

A bid by Labour councillors to defer the new allowances for several months, until the unitary council is fully up and running, was defeated by Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Independents.

Labour members claimed it is wrong to be awarding councillors big increases at a time when the county council is set to axe up to 800 jobs and cut services, and when some workers are taking pay cuts.

The recommended pay package will cost council taxpayers £1.5m a year - but will actually result in a net saving to the public purse of almost £600,000 with the loss of more than 300 district councillors and their allowances.

Some councillors, who are currently both county and district councillors, will be worse off financially after April.

A county council meeting in Morpeth was told that the Independent Remuneration Panel feels that current councillors' allowances in Northumberland - especially the leader's package - are below that of peers in comparable authorities. The recommended new basic allowance of £12,500 compares to an average of £15,838 in Scotland and £13,030 in Wales.

But Labour councillor Deirdre Campbell said: "How are we going to explain to people who are seeing their council services cut next year that we are hiking our allowances? To consider these increases at a time when there is so much hardship out there is immoral and obscene."

Tory group leader Peter Jackson - who moved the amendment that the new pay rates should be subject to the full budget exercise - said that would result in public consultation on whether the package was acceptable to the public and affordable.

Lib Dem council leader Jeff Reid said: "This remuneration scheme has been thoroughly and independently thought through by the panel. In reality, this is a good news story because, in total, we will be spending almost £600,000 less on councillors' allowances next year than we are now."

Tory councillor John Riddell said: "Democracy costs money and if we want people to become councillors we need to pay them a reasonable amount of money."

COUNTY COUNCILLORS' PAY RATES

How county councillors' pay rates will change under unitary local Government in April. NB: All special responsibility allowances are paid on top of the basic allowance.

Basic allowance: £9,143 -> £12,500

Leader's allowance: £19,032 -> £27,000

Deputy leader's allowance: £14,274 -> £18,000

Executive members: £11,419 -> £14,850

Chairs of scrutiny committees: £9,512 -> £12,150

Major opposition group leader: £9,203 -> £12,150