Pay rise report to be ‘noted’ by all Councillors

Councillor pay is back on the agenda this week, with all 52 elected representatives being asked to “note” a report which will increase the basic salary by £200.

Earlier this month Wrexham.com reported that the Independent Renumeration Panel for Wales (IRPW) had put forward the increase for all councillors across Wales as part of its annual report.

How much councillors get paid is not directly set by local authorities, including Wrexham Council – with the IRPW set up in 2008 the IRPW to take such pay related decisions away from elected members.

Locally the £200 increase would see the basic salary for all non executive board / councillors in receipt of senior pay to £13,600 from £13,400 from April 2018.

No rise to senior salary positions – such as leader and deputy leader of the council, leader of the opposition and executive board members – is proposed by the Panel, however each of the above would receive the £200 basic salary increase.

This would result in the following changes:

Leader of Wrexham Council: £48,100 > £48,300
Deputy Leader: £33,600 > £33,800
Executive Board Members: £29,100 > £29,300
Committee Chairs (where remunerated): £22,100 > £22,300
Leader of the Opposition: £22,100 > £22,300

The report also proposes the end of the two-tier payment system for senior councillors, a factor which has been challenged previously by opposition members.

In its report the IRWP explains that last year members of the Panel visited all 22 local authorities across Wales to seek their views.

As part of its findings, the IRPW explains that that “one of the observations that many members expressed was that when the basic salary is compared with a traditional paid employment – ‘a job’ – the salary is too low to attract younger people and to encourage diversity.”

On Wednesday afternoon councillors will be asked to ‘note’ the increase in basic salary, which will come into effect from April 2018.

It is estimated that the salary increase would result in an additional cost to Wrexham Council of £10,400 in 2018/19.

In November 2017 a debate on the Panel’s Draft Annual Report saw several members of the Democratic Services Committee challenge the proposed salary increase. Back then the majority of councillors voted in favour of the following recommendations, with four committee members abstaining from the vote.

During a meeting of the same committee earlier this month, it was noted that the council had not received a reply to the questions put to to the panel, much to some annoyance.

All 52 councillors will have the opportunity to debate and ‘note’ the increase to the basic salary at the full council meeting on Wednesday 28th March at 4pm. Previously such meetings over reports on pay increases have become heated affairs.

For those unable to attend the meeting, it will be webcast live on the Wrexham Council website. You can also follow @wrexham on Twitter for our tweets from the meeting.