North Yorkshire councillors to vote on 10% increase in allowances

The proposed increase relfects the increased workload of members, the council said

Councillors will decide later whether to give themselves a 10% increase in their allowances.

If approved, the basic allowance for a member of North Yorkshire Council will be set at £17,000 in 2024/25.

It is currently £15,500, which was a 50% increase on the allowance paid to members of the former county council.

An independent panel said the increase was "fair and proportionate" and recognised councillors increased workload.

North Yorkshire Council was created on 1 April to replace eight county, borough and district councils.

The chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), Keith Trotter, said it was important to recognise councillors were not employees and were not paid a commercial rate for their time.

He said allowances should not be set at a level which does not reflect the "considerable time commitment required for the role".

"Setting a fair and proportionate basic allowance and special responsibility allowance that reflects the workload of councillors in the newly established council has been a complex task."

He said the panel had taken into account allowances paid by other councils, cost of living pressures, public sector pay rises and inflation.

In addition to the basic allowance rising, the special responsibility allowances will be increased by 2% if approved.

The total cost to the council of the proposed rise will be £145,514 for 2024/25.

Mr Trotter said it was important to remember 90 councillors were now doing the work which before April was done by 319 councillors.

"This increase is also in the context of savings of £714,621 made in 2023/24 and in being 0.01 per cent of the overall council budget of £1.4 billion."

The leader of North Yorkshire Council Carl Les said the level of the allowance should not be a barrier to prevent anyone standing as a councillor.

He said it would be up to each councillor to decide "whether to take all, some or none of the proposed allowances".