Councillors are set to get a small payrise when new allowances for the incoming cabinet system are approved.
The basic rate will go up by 4.6% to £14,218 – an extra £625 per year.
Many councillors also get extra allowances for carrying out roles such as leader of the council or leader of the opposition.
As the amount of allowances paid in 2023/24 have not yet been published, it’s not possible to say what rises these postholders will get. Brighton and Hove News requested last year’s figures, but had not been sent them at the time of publication.
In 2022/23, then leader of the council received a total of £48,135.37. Current leader Bella Sankey will receive a total annual allowance of £51,185 – a rise of 6.3%.
The two deputy leaders, Jacob Taylor and Gill Williams – new roles created under the cabinet system – will be paid a total of £31,777 – a rise of 8% from the £29,383.20 Hannah Clare – the sole deputy leader – was paid two years ago.
Two years ago, the leader of the opposition position was job-shared, but if one councillor had held the post they would have been paid a total of £25,660.
Under the new allowance scheme, that role, currently held by Green councillor Steve Davies, will be paid a total of £26,417 – a rise of 2.9%.
The seven new cabinet members will be paid a total of £27,156.
The new rates have been recommended by an independent panel and will be debated by councillors at the annual council meeting next Thursday.
The last review of councillors’ allowances was undertaken by the IRP for the council in 2019.
The report states: “An important part of being a councillor is the desire to serve the public and, therefore, not all of what a councillor does should be remunerated. Part of a councillor’s time should be given voluntarily.
“The basic allowance should encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds and with a wide range of skills to serve as local councillors.
“Those who participate in and contribute to the democratic process should not suffer unreasonable financial disadvantage as a result of doing so.”
Councillors may also claim the cost of travel and subsistence expenses and for expenditure on the care of children or dependants whilst on approved councillor duties.
The independent panel estimates the cost of the revised allowances will be £1.051m, a rise of £102,000 on the current cost of £949,000.
The new recommendations represent a 10.7% increase overall. The Panel took into account the fact that Member allowances were frozen in 2022/23 and 2023/24 and that over this period average staff pay increased by 12.7%.
Hannah Clare – the sole deputy leader – was paid two years ago. Before she was ignominiously removed, kicking, screaming and shouting from the count. As always in the UK, poor performance is rewarded. Same with the council officers.
Cllr Davis should be paying us for all the damage he has caused to Brighton!
Your mind is going to be blown to learn that most Ward Councillors were paid two years ago.
Why a picture of old pound coins ?
BREXIT
Nah it was counterfeiting, by organised gangs from all over Europe.
Stock images Chris, likely no copyright permission required. Bit of a strange thing to highlight, lol.
Just things that I notice but for me it undermines the story as attention to detail is important.
So…you would rather it was an image of a bank transfer?
Is the £102,000 cabinet pay rise award on top of the previous £80,000 cost quoted to change the committee system into the unwanted cabinet system and what fund is the money coming from?
Presumably the other councillors will all be shut out of additional pay perks and say in the new cabinet system.
Why are we paying for TWO deputy leaders now when one was sufficient in the past?
Clearly different Barry. One is the implementation of a system, and this is the yearly increase to the basic allowance, which, to remind you, works out as £6.84ph and is half the Real Living Wage. Also, there’s no need to presume anything, the details are all there publically, you just have to, and this is a continuous piece of feedback you are given by multiple people, read.
Two deputy leaders make it easier to manage running the council, and I would argue, considering the mismanagement of the Council by the Greens, something you have very strong views about, was not sufficient in the past.
They close our nursery and school claiming there’s no money but find enough dosh to give themselves a pay rise. Labour once again proving they are self serving.
Those who participate in and contribute to the democratic process should not suffer unreasonable financial disadvantage as a result of doing so. I completely agree with this statement, especially when you look at the numbers the basic allowance for councillors currently is, in real terms, half minimum wage, so they have to supplement their income with a second job – which leads to a common complaint of Ward Councillors being unavailable, something you have complained about before, Emily.
The argument that schools are losing out is a reminder that these are separate funds that aren’t influenced by each other and a fact you are aware of because you have demonstrated a solid understanding of the council’s processes in the past, yet choosing not to implement that insight on this occasion to attack the council, because things didn’t go your way; although, that is not because of the energy you put into that topic, which should be praised.
Labour 2024: “for the few, not the many”…
All whilst closing schools and Bright Start Nursery – very “New Labour” of Brighton and Hove City Council. Sigh.
For the very reason of the continuation of the many, not the few.
I think councillors should be paid more but also be more accountable.
There are elections every 4 years – which is the traditional method of accountability.
But how do you want them to be made ‘more accountable’ ?
And in a way that doesn’t make them skew their decision making to what is popular rather than what is right?