Councillors give themselves 'fair' pay rise

Councillors said it was a "middle-ground" pay rise

North Devon councillors have given themselves what they say is a “fair” pay rise, which they argue takes account of the cost-of-living crisis and the need to attract new members.

The council says it has taken the “middle ground” with a £250 annual increase, which will bring their basic allowance to £5,421 this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) says.

North Devon is currently third from the bottom in the table of earnings for Devon’s district authorities, with Mid Devon having the highest basic allowance of £6,000.

An independent panel recommendation to increase pay by £250 plus the staff pay percentage award of 3.8% was refused.

The panel wanted the council to move towards an “aspirational” figure that better reflected their workload and responsibilities.

Based on a formula of 12 hours of work per week and the average hourly gross pay in North Devon of £13.90, plus a percentage reduction to reflect the voluntary element of the role, the panel set the aspirational figure at £5,810.

Recognising this is a time of financial difficulty and "challenging" service delivery issues to the community, it was suggested that increases should be incremental over three years to get to that figure by the end of 2026.

But councillors decided on an alternative option, agreeing to a £250 rise this year, a further £250 increase for 2024/25 and £140 rise for 2025/26 or the staff pay award, whichever is higher.