ALLOWANCES for all county councillors should rise by 19 per cent next year, an independent panel has said.

The proposals sparked criticism as they came less than a week after Oxfordshire County Council warned staff of a forecasted £11m black hole in its finances.

But the council said it was the first review since 2011, which saw allowances frozen. It added the increase in basic allowance from £8,376 to £10,000 would still leave the local authority among the lowest in the south of England.

The report from the independent renumeration panel also recommended a rise for council leaders, taking the total annual allowance bill from £881,000 to £1.031m.

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County council deputy leader Rodney Rose said the measures were expected to be unpopular, but were aimed at enouraging more diversity.  

He said: “We have started off at a low point in Oxfordshire and we want people who have jobs and mortgages to be able to be councillors. 

“The council has put off increases of allowances for years because it was never the right time, but what you have to accept is that there is never really a right time. 

“We need people to stand as councillors and chair committees and to do that they must be appropriately renumerated.” 

Yesterday the council stressed its payment of basic allowance was already the second lowest in the south of England. 

The authority also pointed to a reduction in the number of councillors in May 2013 from 74 to 63, which saved £117,000.

But Oxford East MP Andrew Smith warned the increase would be received badly, as household incomes remained static for most families. 

He said: “County councillors should be very mindful of the severe cuts being forced through by Government and the impact they are having on essential services. 

“It would go down very badly with the public if at a time of financial pressure like this councillors voted to increase their own allowances.” 

All councillors will get to vote on the proposal next Tuesday.

In its report, the independent committee said it had seen the review as an oppotunity to “reset” the allowances system. The panel, led by Olga Senior – a former director of corporate affairs at one of the NHS’s 10 stategic health authorities – said it had only considered whether the council could afford the rise as “one element”. 

The report said: “The current levels of allowances are too low, having regard to the time and workload involved. We consider our recommendations to be appropriate for the roles actually performed by councillors.” 

Taxpayers’ Alliance director John O’Connell said: “Oxfordshire County Council has kept the cost of local government relatively low, but this is no time for complacency and no time for these huge increases. 

“Councillors have to have the moral authority to lead crucial cost-cutting programs, and it becomes harder to make those necessary savings if those on the council aren’t seen to be showing the same restraint as others in the public sector.”

The changes

  • The leader’s allowance will rise from £25,131 to £29,000 (+15%)
  • The deputy leader’s allowance will rise from £16,754 to £20,000 (+19%)
  • Cabinet members’ allowances will rise from £12,565 to £16,000 (+27%)
  • The leader of the opposition’s allowance will fall from £12,565 to £8,000 (-36%)
  • Scrutiny committee chairmen’s allowance will rise from £5,050 to £6,000.

Factfile

  • County councillors do not receive salaries and are instead given allowances
  • The system is designed to reimburse them for daily costs incurred in their duties, such as travel expenses
  • Certain councillors also recieve a special reponsibility allowance (SRA) for extra roles they have – such as chairing committees or being a cabinet member
  • Councillors with children or who care for a dependent adult can claim expenses to pay for their care while they attend meetings
  • The basic allowance is currently £8,376 per year

Council’s opposition leader could see her payment fall

THE leader of the Labour opposition of Oxfordshire County Council has criticised proposed increases in allowances for councillors.

Liz Brighouse said the recommended 19 per cent rise of basic allowance could not be sufficiently funded and would provoke public fury.

Under the new scheme, Mrs Brighouse would see her own allowance slashed by 36 per cent – from £12,565 to £8,000.

The leader of the opposition is the only special responsibility role that is proposed to have its allowance reduced.

Special reponsibility allowances are paid on top of the basic allowance, set to become £10,000 under the proposals.

Mrs Brighouse said: “We can’t start putting allowances up when other people’s wages are being kept down, especially when we do not even have the money to do it.

“We are living in times of great austerity and really should all be in this together.”

Mrs Brighouse was one of 17 councillors interviewed as part of a review carried out by the Independent Renumeration Panel.

The panel spoke to backbenchers, committee chairmen and deputy leader Rodney Rose, as well as leader Ian Hudspeth.

Mr Rose’s allowance is set to increase by 19 per cent, to £20,000, and Mr Hudspeth’s by 15 per cent, to £29,000.

On the allowance for the opposition leader being cut, Mrs Brighouse said: “I don’t quite understand why that is the case, but I think given our financial circumstances we have to be very careful about what we do with councillor allowances.”

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