Newcastle’s councillors have rejected a pay rise labelled “wholly wrong” at a time when Geordies are struggling with a cost of living crisis.
An independent panel had recommended that the city’s 78 elected representatives give themselves a 3.1% rise in their annual allowances, totalling almost £30,000.
But that idea was unanimously rejected on Wednesday night, as political leaders vowed to stand in solidarity with residents who have been hard hit by rising household bills and the devastating impact of Covid-19.
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At a full meeting of Newcastle City Council, both Labour’s deputy council leader Karen Kilgour and independent councillor Lawrence Hunter proposed freezing councillor’s pay.
Coun Kilgour said it would be “wholly wrong” for councillors to up their own pay at a time when city residents are battling the cost of living crisis and the effects of the pandemic.
Labour council leader Nick Forbes agreed it would be wrong to take a pay rise when poverty is on the rise in the city.
But he also called for a “return to civility” in how councillors are treated and spoken to, especially on social media, after seeing the city’s elected representatives subjected to “huge levels of abuse and vitriol” in Facebook comments reacting to ChronicleLive's report of the pay rise proposal last week.
He said that vile comments aimed at councillors are “unacceptable” and that “we have to challenge the idea that councillors are fair game on social media”.
Coun Hunter said it was “definitely not the time” to increase councillors’ pay while the authority was raising council tax and council house rent rates, while fellow independent Marc Donnelly suggested that elected members should in fact half or even completely suspend their pay in order to bring back cut services such as school crossing patrols.
Coun Nick Cott, leader of the city’s Lib Dem opposition, added: “It is really important that we send a message to residents that we are aware of the sacrifices they have made during this pandemic crisis.”
Newcastle councillors also froze their pay last year in light of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, but had accepted rises in 2019 and 2020 – the first times they had done so since 2009.
City councillors currently take home a basic yearly allowance of £9,200, considerably lower than the North East average of £10,541.
The Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) uplift recommendation would have taken that to £9,480 and increased ‘special responsibility allowances’ by the same level for councillors who take on more senior roles.
Eric Richards, chair of the IRP, told Wednesday night’s meeting that a “relatively small increase” was justified as Newcastle councillors “run a tight ship” and “do not go over the top” with their allowances.
