Liverpool councillors have rejected a 5% pay rise as the council prepares to welcome a new leadership model.
An independent panel had recommended elected members of Liverpool Council be given an uplift in their allowances, from £10,590 to £11,119. This had been suggested in line with a raise given to local authority officers.
As with last year, when councillors rejected an increase of 1.75%, the proposed pay rise was rejected. However, city representatives have sought further information on the future of parking permits and if they should be included within members’ allowances.
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Concerns had been raised by the council’s constitutional and governance committee last month, with chair Cllr Ruth Bennett claiming the move after six months was “not good enough” and represented “kicking it into the long grass.” She said the issue needed to be “tackled head on” as “the current system isn’t working as it should.”
Further reports have been requested on how much special responsibility allowance (SRA) chairs of the council’s planning and licensing committees with a further decision to be made later in the year. It was confirmed at Liverpool Town Hall last night how much the new leader will be paid following all-out elections in May.
The governance model at the Cunard Building is changing following the election with the role of Mayor being done away with. As a result, the leader of the majority group when all the votes are tallied has been recommended to be paid £42,100 a year as part of their SRA, compared to the existing Mayoral salary of £83,539.
The elected deputy leader would receive £16,014, should councillors agree to the recommendations made by the independent panel. Currently, Liverpool’s statutory deputy mayor - Cllr Frazer Lake - receives an allowance of £30,074.
City councillors also granted powers to city solicitor Dan Fenwick to continue progress readying the council for its new governance model later this year. During her own campaign, Mayor Anderson vowed to do away with the Mayoralty through a referendum.
However, such an exercise was deemed too expensive and a public consultation was held instead whereby the adopted leader and cabinet model was the third choice of respondents. Despite the council's claims over costs, many people were frustrated not to be given a vote on how the city is run going forward.
They were even more frustrated by the way the public consultation was carried out and the subsequent actions of the Labour group. Only 4% of the city's residents took part in the consultation and of that number, more than 40% said they would prefer to keep the mayoral system.
Around 32% opted for the committee system while just 24% went for the leader and cabinet model. Despite the leader system finishing last of three, the Labour group on the council immediately stated that it intended to support that style of leadership, arguing that the poor response rate of the consultation meant it was not representative.
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