6.4% pay rise and 50p-a-mile travel

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Travelling expenses have temporarily gone up to 50 pence a mile for Powys councillors and staff – due to Donald Trump’s war with Iran causing fuel prices to sky rocket.

At a Powys County Council’s annual meeting, the temporary 5p hike in travelling expenses was confirmed, as councillors received a report which says they will get a 6.4% salary increase this year.

The basic salary for councillors will rise this year from £19,771 to £21,044, an increase agreed by Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC) at a meeting back in February.

The DBCC have taken over the role of the now defunct Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) to set councillor and Senedd Member salaries in Wales.

Research shows that councillors are working an average of 28 hours per week in their roles, and the basic salary is supposed to reflect that – those on a senior salary get paid more due to the extra responsibility that comes with their roles.

Head of Business Intelligence and Governance, Catherine James, explained that councillors could choose “forego” all or part of their salary if they so wish it. She added that councillors were only asked to “note” the report as they don’t have a say in accepting the recommendations or not.

Cllr Gareth E Jones (Powys Independents – Llanelwedd) asked: “Just for clarity on travel allowances in section nine (of the report). I understand that it’s HMRC’s 45p a mile.

“But I thought we’ve had an email recently to say that’s been changed to 50p a mile due to the current energy issues and this is applied to staff and members (councillors).”

Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, Clive Pinney, replied: “Yes the actual rate is set out in the paper but there is a temporary increase which has been determined by the council itself.”

Cllr Jones believed this should have been “outlined” in the report, and the council went on to note the report.

In Wales, local authorities are placed in three bands based on population figures:

• Band A – which pays more and includes councils with a population of over 200,000.
• Band B – which includes Powys is in the 100,000 to 200,000 population bracket.
• Band C – which pays less, are those with a population of under 100,000 people.

The senior salary increases in Powys which are inclusive of the basic salary are:

• Council leader – salary will go up to £71,025 an increase from £66,727.
• Deputy leader – salary will go up to £49,717 an increase from £46,709.
• Cabinet member – salary will go up to £42,615 and increase from £40,036.

Other roles with a senior salary – scrutiny committee chairs, planning committee chair, council chair and leader of the opposition will all now receive £31,567 an increase from £29,657.

The ‘deputy civic leader’, which is the vice-chairman in Powys, will receive £25,253 an increase from £23,726 – but the assistant vice-chairman is not paid anything extra.