A Highbridge councillor has this week criticised Somerset county councillors for giving themselves a 3% pay rise.

The £371 increase to the basic annual allowance was voted through on Wednesday (July 17th) and was accepted by councillors.

The rise brings their basic allowance to £10,251 a year, before any extra money for chairing committees and other responsibilities is accounted for.

Highbridge district councillor Helen Groves told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It’s disgraceful that this has gone ahead when the average wage for people in Somerset is just £18,000 and at a time when salary increases for most people have been frozen for several years.”

“The county council’s own staff numbers have been cut to the bone – they can’t expect more than a 1% pay rise this year – so it just isn’t right that this is going ahead.”

She added that Lib Dem county councillors had voted against the pay increase despite a recommendation from an independent panel stating the rise is due.

Earliet this year, Somerset County Council announced that with an overall settlement of £336m for 2013-14 compared to £360m for the previous year, savings of £24m would be needed to balance the books. County councillors also agreed to freeze council tax for a fourth year running and draw on £5.6m of reserves to help offset a £23m fall in revenue.

 
Subscribe to our free news updates and join our other subscribers.
No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. View our privacy page
Select all options that you require: