Councillors vote to accept 4% pay rise

Exeter city councillors have voted to give themselves a pay rise of 4%

Exeter city councillors have voted to accept a pay rise for themselves.

Members of the executive committee voted to accept an increase of 4%, as recommended by an independent panel looking at councillor allowances.

The basic allowance is to rise by £261 to £6,798 per councillor, and there is a similar increase in the special responsibility allowances for specific jobs.

It means the annual pay of council leader Phil Bialyk - which includes the basic allowance plus the special allowance - will rise from £27,782 to £28,913.

Executive members with portfolios will have their allowances increased from £17,976 to £18,695, while the chair of the planning committee is to see their allowance rise from £13,074 to £13,596.

Other committee posts rise by 4% each on a sliding scale down to the chair of the harbour board, whose allowance rises from £8,171 to £8,497.

The new payments will come into effect from April.

Councillor Duncan Wood (Labour) said the increase would help address the impact of inflation.

He said: “It’s an independent recommendation, it’s not us choosing to make our allowances larger.

"It’s recognition of the work we do."