Councillor pay differences under attack

SOME councils have been criticised for paying members much bigger allowances than their neighbours.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has revealed the huge difference in basic allowances paid to councillors in local authorities around the UK.

Oldham Council — at the midpoint between the highest and lowest paid — lists members as having received basic remuneration of £8,950 in 2011/12, the same as the year before.

The TPA has launched an online tool which shows large differences between similar, neighbouring authorities carrying out similar functions: Manchester City Council pays more than double that of neighbouring Trafford.

Matthew Sinclair, TPA chief executive, said: “With local authorities up and down the country having to rein in spending and many public sector staff facing a pay freeze, those councillors who have awarded themselves an increase in their allowances in defiance of Government advice should hang their heads in shame.

Oldham Council’s allowances are set by an Independent Remuneration Panel.


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