Councillors allowances increase above inflation - but less than 20 per cent attend all their meetings

Rotherham Council members will get an inflation-beating pay boost of £429 this year under the terms of an annual agreement.

The figure is a 3.3 per cent rise on their allowance, mirroring this year’s award to council employees.

It takes the £12,990 allowance up to £13,429.

That arrangement was set by the authority in 2023, with councillors who get a higher allowance to reflect special responsibilities getting an increase of half that on the portion of their allowance which reflects those duties.

In effect, it marginally narrows the gap between the allowances of regular councillors and those holding senior roles.

It is anticipated the increase will kick-in from October, though payments will be backdated to April.

Inflation in April - when the increase is backdated to - was 2.8 per cent using the CPI measure, or three per cent using RPI.

It fell further, into the summer, and the latest figure - for August - is due to be released later this month.

Now, one councillor has called for stricter rules on when the allowances should be paid - with two members of the authority having attended just one meeting in the last six months, enough to leave them eligible for the full amount.

Cllr Michael Bennett-Sylvester, an independent member, said: “Most councillors are hard working and when you consider the basic allowance is worth the equivalent of 20 hours at minimum wage you can appreciate some are out of pocket.”

But eight out of the authority’s 59 councillors have attended less than half the meetings they were scheduled to turn up for, at the time the increase was announced.

Cllr Bennett-Sylvester said: “They may have legitimate reasons for not being able to attend but the question is are you taking full money, something every member can refuse to do, but also, if you really can’t represent your constituents, wouldn’t it be best if you moved out of the way and let somebody else step in?” he said.

The allowances are designed to reflect the commitment made by councillors in serving their communities.

Council statistics show Cllr Bennett-Sylvester was expected to attend 15 meetings and was present for 14.

He took only £12,245 of his allowance in recognition of that, one of two members to do so.

Members will a perfect record for attending meetings were Cllr Joanna Baker-Rogers, attending 11 out of 11; Cllr John Blackham, with 14 out of 14; Cllr Mick Bower, nine out of nine; Cllr Charlotte Carter, six out of six; Cllr Tom Collingham, ten out of ten; Cllr Ian Jones, 12 out of 12; Cllr Lynda Marshall, nine out of nine; Cllr Cameron McKiernan, 13 out of 13; Cllr Haroon Rashid, seven out of seven; Cllr Chris Read, nine out of nine; Cllr Brian Steele, 16 out of 16.