If approved the proposal would see the allowances paid to councillors rise by 3.2%, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter
Allowances paid to councillors in Barking and Dagenham could increase if members vote in favour of the rise this week.
If approved, the allowances will see the council leader’s annual pay increase to over £73,000 a year.
Councillors are set to vote on whether to approve the increase this Friday (22nd).
Proposals say the increase will ensure “that councillors’ remuneration is kept in line with that of staff”.
All councillors in Barking and Dagenham are currently entitled to claim a basic annual allowance of £13,637. Those with extra duties – such as cabinet members and committee chairs – are also entitled to claim additional ‘special responsibility’ allowances.
Allowances are not salaries but are intended to support councillors, such as by allowing them to take time off from work, and are taxable.
Proposals set to be presented to councillors suggest increasing allowances by 3.2%, in line with a pay increase for local government staff last year.
That would mean the councillors’ basic allowance would rise to £14,073.
On top of that, the council leader’s allowance would increase from £57,320 to £59,154 – a rise of £1,834.
It means the council leader could claim up to £73,227 a year in total, up from £70,957 currently.
The current council leader is Dominic Twomey, of the Labour Party. At the election earlier this month Labour again won overall control, despite losing 13 seats to Reform UK and the Greens.
If the new allowances scheme is approved, the council’s deputy leader would be able to claim up to £49,073 in total, while cabinet members – those responsible for different council services – could claim £38,281.
Chairs of various committees are also entitled to claim additional allowances. The new proposal is for chairs of the planning committee and full council meetings to be able to claim an additional £11,714 on top of their basic allowance.
The full council chair would also have access to a “mayor’s purse” of £3,574 to “cover certain expenses”.
The chair of the overview and scrutiny committee – which examines and challenges areas of council work – would be able to claim an additional £15,228. Six other committee chairs would be able to claim an additional £6,370.
Meanwhile, leaders of the minority political groups – Reform UK and the Green Party – would be able to claim £436 per council seat that they hold.
That means the leading councillor for the Reform group, with nine councillors, will be able to claim up to £3,942 on top of their basic allowance – £17,015 in total.
The leader of the Green group, with four seats, can claim an additional £1,744 – £15,817 in total.
Changes in the law mean that for the first time since 2014, councillors will also be able to pay some of their allowances into the local government pension scheme.
If they do, the council will also need to make employer’s contributions to the scheme.
The council’s total budget for councillors’ allowances is set to rise to £1.15million – not including employer’s pension contributions – if the increases are approved.
Councillors will also vote to elect a leader and commitee chairs at the meeting on Friday.
