Labour have been accused of breaking a 'long-standing' consensus at Manchester council by cutting allowances for opposition councillors. Councillors agreed to recommendations by an independent remuneration panel on Wednesday (May 18) including pay rises in line with town hall staff.
All councillors will now be entitled to a basic allowance of £17,798 annually. Special responsibility allowances which are paid to the most senior members remain the same – but those paid to some opposition councillors will be cut.
It comes after the number of opposition councillors doubled from two to four in the last 12 months after Labour lost seats – but they still boast 92 out of 96. The number of executive members - who each receive a total allowance of £36,478 - has increased this year, taking the total - including the two deputy leaders and the leader who earn £36,478 and £62,211 respectively - to 10.
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Lib Dem leader John Leech accused Labour of breaking a 'long-standing tradition of cross-party consensus' by waving through the recommendations by the remuneration panel which he argued was 'not fully independent'. Speaking at the town hall, he said: "I suppose I should start by congratulating the Labour Party for successfully achieving their aim of making it increasingly difficult for the opposition to hold them to account by disproportionately reducing the support to opposition members by a whopping 48 pc.
"It's very disappointing that Labour chose to break the long standing tradition of cross party consensus on allowances for councillors and even more disappointing that it was done simply to try and make it more difficult for the opposition to hold them to account. I think it's a sad day that we've broken the consensus and I think it'll come back to bite Labour in the future."
Previously, the leader of the main opposition group was entitled to an additional £18,660 above the basic allowance claimed by all councillors. However, opposition parties with fewer than 10 members are now entitled to an extra £11,220 for their leader with no additional allowance for deputies.
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Other opposition groups leaders are now entitled to an additional £4,488. But because the Lib Dems and the Green Party each have two councillors now, there is no main opposition party which means the leader of both groups will split their combined allowances in half, leaving them each with £7,854.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that some opposition councillors will now have to dedicate more hours to their other jobs as a result. Responding to Coun Leech's comments, Manchester council leader Bev Craig said Labour has a long-standing tradition of accepting the recommendations.
She said: "My view is when people in this city are struggling with the priorities that they will face over the next 12 months, a petty argument amongst ourselves will not do them a service. So my view is that we need to focus on the issues that matter to people.
"There is considerable evidence in the independent remuneration report that reassures me that this has been done in a balanced way. We want to simply move on with dealing with the issues that face Manchester.
"We in this chamber are privileged to serve Manchester people. We're not here because we're driven by money. We're here because we want to make Manchester a better place."
A 1.75 pc increase to the basic allowance has been backdated to the last financial year to reflect the pay rise received by employees at the town hall. The pay rise for this year is yet to be agreed for Manchester council staff.
