Cornwall councillors will be asked to decide whether to accept a payrise
One Newquay councillor has spoken out against the rise
Cornwall councillors will be asked to decide whether to accept a payrise when they meet next week.
All councillors currently at County Hall receive a basic allowance of £14,870.50 and there are a number of special responsibility allowances which are paid to those councillors with roles such as leader of the council, cabinet members and committee chairmen.
An independent remuneration panel sets recommendations for councillors’ allowances and in its latest report it has recommended that allowances increase to £15,596.99.
The recommendation, which covers allowances from May 2021, is set to go to full council when it meets next Tuesday.
A report to councillors explains that if accepted, the increase in allowances would actually save the council £432,443.64 as the number of councillors is set to be cut at May’s elections from 123 to 87.
There have previously been discussions at the council over whether allowances would increase more as councillors would have larger areas to cover and more residents to represent due to the cut in councillors.
Some had suggested that the allowance rate should also be increased to encourage more younger people to stand for election and to attract a more diverse range of councillors.
Many councillors say they work many hours a week and struggle to maintain their responsibilities alongside a “regular” job.
For some there is a concern that this means that being a councillor is only open to those who can afford not to work or are retired – leading to a council chamber which does not match the population.
A survey carried out among members of the council found that the average time spent on council work was 32.7 hours a week.
The remuneration panel stated that there was no hourly rate to work out what the basic allowance should be.
As a result they used a rate of £13.08 per hour. To calculate the allowance the panel then applied a 25% discount which was considered to be the voluntary time given by elected councillors.
This then resulted in the calculation of 32.7 hours a week x 47 weeks x £13.08 = £20,102.65. When taking off the 25% voluntary discount the overall allowance was reduced to £15,076.99.
The panel then considered additions which were needed to cover pension contributions, a homeworking allowance, broadband contribution and subsistence contribution – making a total of £520.
This then set the overall basic allowance at the recommended rate of £15,596.99.
One councillor has issued a statement saying that he will not be supporting the increase, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Formosa, Conservative councillor for Newquay Treviglas said: “I have told my colleagues that I will not vote for an increase this year while the country is still in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Many of the hard-working families and others I represent have had a 20 per cent pay cut in the past year because of furlough, or, worse, have lost their jobs completely.
“Others will have been running their own businesses and will have been forced to close them, never to reopen again, or forced into debt to survive, while those who work in the public sector are facing a pay freeze this year after a pay rise last year which was well below five per cent.
“How can I ask those people to vote for me in the elections in May if I support a five per cent ‘pay rise’.”
He added: “Councillors are community leaders and we should be setting an example and showing the people we represent that we understand the difficult times they are going through and we feel and share their pain.
“Some councillors have complained to me that they would not be able to live on the proposed ‘low’ £15,000 allowance, but they fail to understand that it was never intended to be a wage on which one can live, we are not salaried employees subject to hire and fire and performance targets like the council’s professional officers.
“The allowances were brought in to help the authority more closely reflect the diverse make-up of our community by helping to cover wages someone might lose by taking time off work to carry out council duties.
“Being a councillor is about serving the public in a largely voluntary role and trying to improve our community for the benefit of all, it is not a job like, say, a road sweeper or an accountant.
“That is why I will vote against an increase in councillor allowances at this time of national crisis which is impacting so deeply on the lives of the people whose council tax pays for our remuneration.”
Cornwall Council will meet to debate and decide the allowances on Tuesday 19th January.