By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Mansfield’s mayor says he is “disappointed” an independent panel has not recommended a pay increase for councillors in the district.
The district council has approved an allowance freeze for all councillors for the next four years, with the basic sum staying at £6,386 per year.
This is the annual fee claimed by all elected members of the authority for their role as a councillor over a four-year term.
Councillors’ pay is set following a review of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), which independently sets pay for politicians.
It met in February and recommended a new scheme for the coming political term until 2027 and suggested the basic allowance should not rise.
It follows the authority approving a 10 per cent cut to special responsibility allowances (SRAs) – those claimed by cabinet members and committee chairs.
This measure came in a bid to save £16,000 in the coming financial year in light of the ongoing energy crisis.
It means cabinet members at the authority will see their extra allowances drop by £1,382.78 to £12,445.05.
The authority’s full council meeting approved the basic allowance freeze and other allowance changes during its meeting on Tuesday (March 7).
But speaking in the meeting, Andy Abrahams (Lab), the district’s elected mayor, said he hoped councillors’ pay could have been increased.
This, he said, was because of the upcoming council elections and the hope of encouraging more people to stand for elected office on May 4.
“The only part of this report that I’m disappointed with is the amount for basic councillor allowance, which wasn’t increased,” he said.
“We really struggle to get councillors to engage and get enough councillors into the district.
“I think it would be good if that had been increased so we can get a wider cross-section of people from across the district that represents all areas.
“It’s a little bit of a shame that we didn’t up that amount to encourage more people to take on the role of councillor.
“There’s a lot of work involved and, economically, that might have encouraged a few more people [to stand].”
Mr Abrahams’ mayoral position, which receives a £49,377.04 allowance, has had its income frozen for the coming term.
He currently donates a third of this allowance to charity through his Mayor’s 500 community scheme.
It follows Nottinghamshire County Council approving a below-inflation increase to its allowances following an IRP review.
The four per cent rise, approved at County Hall in November, saw all 66 councillors’ basic allowances rise by £617.22 to £15,894.98.
The rise also affected the SRAs of cabinet members, committee chairs and council leader Cllr Ben Bradley MP (Con), as well as opposition groups.
