A pay rise for Nottingham City Council members has been recommended which would see its leader's allowance increasing by more than £1,500. Most councillors would see an increased pay of nearly £1,000 under the proposals, which are due to be voted on next month.
Councillors do not receive salaries for their role, but they are instead entitled to an annual basic allowance in recognition of the demands of the job. On top of this basic payment, special responsibility allowances are given to councillors who carry out additional duties such as chairing a committee or holding other leadership positions.
A report from an independent remuneration panel, made up of four people who are entirely independent of Nottingham City Council, has now recommended that these payments should increase. The recommendation for the basic allowance is an increase of 7%, whilst an increase of 2% for the special responsibility allowance is being proposed, with both of them being backdated to April 1, 2022.
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If approved, these increases would see all councillors getting a basic allowance rise of £913.68, taking their total basic allowance payment for the year to £13,966.30. For those holding additional roles at the council, this new total is then added on to their increased special responsibility allowance.
It means that for Nottingham City Council's leader, David Mellen, his new total allowance for the year would be £53,629.96. The deputy leader of the council, Adele Williams, would have a new total allowance of £42,812.61.
The independent remuneration panel previously recommended that the allowances for councillors should increase in line with the pay increase for Nottingham City Council employees. This policy was due to apply for a four year period from April 1, 2021.
The pay for council employees usually goes up by a percentage increase but, for the 2022/23 year, the increase was a flat cash sum of £1,925. This meant that the usual percentage increase format could not be applied to councillor allowances.
To work out what the increase to councillor allowances should be, the panel therefore calculated the percentage increase that someone on the average Nottingham City Council salary of just over £28,000 received as a result of the flat cash sum, which came out as 7%.
The panel is therefore recommending the 7% and 2% increases respectively, both backdated to April 1 this year. The panel also says that if the pay of council employees goes up by percentages again, councillor allowances should be linked to this for four years from next April.
If a flat cash sum is offered to council employees again, then the recommendation is that the panel should meet again to come up with a new arrangement. If all recommendations are accepted, a report before councillors shows that they will result in a £40,000 pressure on the council's 2022/23 budget.
The independent panel's recommendations came following a meeting they held on December 15. The proposals will be voted on at a full meeting of Nottingham City Council on January 9 at the Council House.
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