2% rise for councillors to be discussed

THE amount all councillors are paid for carrying out their duties in Rhondda Cynon Taff is set to rise by nearly £270 next year.

A recommendation from the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) says councillors’ basic pay for performing their roles in RCT should go up by £268 for 2019-20 to £13,868.

This is equivalent to a rise of just under 2% and will go before the council’s annual general meeting tomorrow for approval.

Senior salaries are also paid to the leader, deputy leader, cabinet members, committee chairs and the leaders of other political groups on the council, which includes the basic salary, and there is a maximum of 19 councillors who can be paid this salary.

The council leader, deputy leader and cabinet members would receive an £800 increase, with the leader receiving £54,100, the deputy leader getting £38,100 and cabinet members receiving £31,100. Committee chairs and the leader of the largest opposition group would receive £22,568 and leaders of other political groups would get £17,568, but it is a matter for the council to decide if committee chairs are paid.

The mayor’s salary for next year would be £22,568 and it would be £17,568 for the deputy mayor, but the council may decide not to apply any civic salary to the posts of mayor and/or deputy mayor.

The report set to go before council says the basic salary is paid for the “responsibility of community representation and participation in the scrutiny, regulatory or related function of local governance at the equivalent of three days a week”.

The IRPW had previously said that basic salaries would be in line with the average earnings of fulltime workers in Wales but that this could not be maintained due to the pressures on public spending.