Chesterfield councillors vote to increase their allowances

The Independent Remuneration Panel recommended that members of Chesterfield Borough Council see their basic allowance rise from £5,998 to £6,118 from April 1.

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Councillors receive a basic allowance for their time and to help cover costs they incur while they are serving their community.

Special responsibility allowances are also given to councillors who have leading roles.

The independent panel - which was made up of Chesterfield residents - recommended that special responsibility allowances should increase for the chair of the planning committee (from £4,754 to £5,754); the vice-chair of the planning committee (from £2,377 to £2,877); the chair of the appeals and regulatory committee (from £4,754 to £5,754); the vice-chair of the appeals and regulatory committee (from £2,377 to £2,877) and the chair of the standards and audit committee (from £2,377 to £4,754).

In addition, the panel recommended that the chair of the licensing committee should be able to claim a special responsibility allowance of £4,754.

Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at right-wing pressure group the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “If councillors’ allowances weren’t so high, there would be more money to spend on frontline services like bin collections.”

The Independent Remuneration Panel’s report states: “The panel were keen to ensure that members’ efforts were suitably remunerated and did not serve as a barrier to public service.”

The panel recommended there be no increase to the special responsibility allowances which can be claimed by the borough council leader (£28,343), the deputy leader (£15,592), cabinet members (£7,779), assistant cabinet members (£3,889), the leader of the minority group (£8,861), the chair of employment and general committee (£3,565) and the chair of the scrutiny committee (£4,754).

The panel also recommended that the special responsibility allowance for the vice-chair of the scrutiny committee be reduced from £2,330 to £1,585.

The panel’s recommendations were considered and agreed at a recent meeting of the borough council.

Chesterfield Borough Council is currently made up of 28 Labour Party councillors, 17 Liberal Democrat Party councillors and three independent councillors.

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