Big increase in number of council salaries above £100,000North Yorkshire councillors back giving themselves 10% pay increase

Councillors on North Yorkshire Council have voted to increase their pay by £1,500 a year.

North Yorkshire Council‘s independent remuneration panel recommended the 90 elected councillors’ annual basic allowance should be increased from £15,500 to £17,000.

The 10% uplift, along with other increases for councillors with special responsibility allowances, will mean council tax payers have to foot an extra £145,000 each year.

Councillors backed the move at a full council meeting in Northallerton today.

Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, a Liberal Democrat who represents Masham and Fountains division on the council, said at the meeting today that she would not support the increase.

She said:

“May I remind everyone that we are in a cost of living crisis. Awarding ourselves a pay rise at this time is indefensible.”

However, Cllr Carl Les, leader of the council, said the independent panel had considered the current cost of living when making the decision to recommend the rise.

“The independent panel know that there is a cost of living crisis. They have factored that in to their deliberations.”

Cllr Les added that it was up to individual councillors as to whether they accepted all or some of the allowance available to them.

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Panel chair Keith Trotter cited the increased workload caused by the creation of North Yorkshire Council, inflation and the cost of living as reasons for the recommendation.

The £1,500 increase in the annual basic allowance from £15,500 to £17,000 will result in an increase in the total annual amount paid of £135,000.

Meanwhile, the two per cent increase in the special responsibility allowances paid, with the exception of sessional payments to chairs of the licensing sub-committees, will result in an increase in the total annual amount paid of £10,514.

North Yorkshire Council was created on April 1 to replace the eight county, borough and district councils in the biggest reorganisation of local government in the county since 1974.

Councillors volunteer for their roles so they are not officially paid but receive an annual basic allowance, which according to the panel compensates for their time and “conscientious fulfilment of duties”.

Harrogate council staff could strike over ‘derisory’ pay offer in New Year

Strike action over a “derisory” pay offer for council staff could take place in Harrogate in the New Year.

Unison at Harrogate Borough Council is set to ballot members over whether or not to take industrial action after its members rejected a 1.75% pay increase last month.

Of a turnout of 62% of its members, 74% voted to refuse the pay offer.

The offer followed a national consultation from the Local Government Association over a pay increase.

A draft timetable will see members receive ballot papers from December 1 and close on January 14.

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It means strike action could take place as early as February, if members vote for this option.

David Houlgate, secretary of the Harrogate branch of Unison, has described the pay offer as “inadequate” and “derisory”.

He said:

“This overwhelming majority makes clear the strength of feeling among local government workers about their pay, here in Harrogate but nationwide too.

“Council and school workers have been the unsung heroes of the covid pandemic, working tirelessly and often at risk to their own safety to serve their communities.

“Meanwhile, since 2010 the value of their pay has fallen by 25%. The 1.75% pay offer is completely inadequate and Unison members have made their feelings about it clear.”