Seventy-five per cent allowance increase for borough mayor

Hinckley Mayor gets £5,000 more

CHARNWOOD Borough councillors have voted to give the Mayor and their Deputy Mayor an allowance rise of 75 per cent and an increase of two per cent for themselves.

At a meeting of the borough’s full council, members heard that compared to other similar sized authorities, the annual allowance paid to carry out the duties as mayor was considerably less.

Until this week, the mayor was paid £3,934 and the deputy mayor £983, compared with nearby Hinckley and Bosworth whose mayor gets £8,000 and deputy £3,000.

A report to the meeting stated that Charnwood’s mayor had carried out an estimated 1,133 hours of duties over the last 12 months.

If the civic leader had been paid the national minimum wage they would have received £8,497, instead of the £3,900 figure.

Now the borough councillors have voted to increase the mayor’s allowance up to £6,883 - a 75 per cent increase.

The deputy mayor post, which put in an estimated 184 hours last year, is also having a 75 per cent increase to £1,721.

Council leader Jonathan Morgan said: “Being the Mayor of Charnwood is a privilege and everyone who has served as the borough’s first citizen will tell you that.

“The Mayor of Charnwood can attend around 500 events a year and put in over a 1,000 hours of time - we think it is only right that a sensible allowance is given to the position.

“The Independent Remuneration Panel agreed that the current allowances appeared to be set too low based on the responsibilities and time commitments involved.

“The council also looked at may- oral allowances in other areas and while there are variances, in some places they are still significantly higher than what is being proposed for Charnwood.”

Also, at the recommendation of an independent panel, made up of Charnwood residents, all councillors will get a two per cent allowance increase, in line with a borough council staff pay rise. This takes their annual payment up to £5,075.

Councillors with special responsibilities such as the leader, or head of a committee, get an extra allowance.

Coun Jonathan Morgan said: “Last year we took steps to remove any ambiguity surrounding any future decisions by linking changes to allowances in line with national staff pay deals.

“Therefore, this year, for the first time we were just noting the recommendation in the report by the Independent Remuneration Panel to carry on with the national staff pay link.”