Wiltshire councillors reject £224,000 pay-cut proposals

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 23 Oct, 06:00 · Archive

Wiltshire Council has rejected Independent Remuneration Panel proposals that would have saved taxpayers £224,000 annually.

Wiltshire Council has overwhelmingly rejected proposals from an Independent Remuneration Panel to save taxpayers around £224,000 a year by reforming councillors' allowances. The council's elected members instead backed their own alternative during a heated debate on Tuesday, 20 October, which was said to save only about £5,000 from the £2.52 million allowances budget.

The Independent Remuneration Panel, commissioned at a cost of £2,500, made 25 recommendations following what it described as an 'in-depth review' of a system largely unchanged since 2017. The panel recommended that councillors continue to receive a basic allowance of £17,585, but proposed substantial changes to Special Responsibility Allowances paid for additional roles such as political group leader positions, cabinet roles, and committee chairmanships.

Key recommendations included restricting councillors to receiving only one SRA; cutting the deputy leader's allowance from £35,169 to £26,377; halving Area Board chair allowances from £9,892 to £4,397; and abolishing several payments altogether. Cllr Gavin Grant, the council's cabinet member for finance, confirmed the overall saving identified in the council report was £224,000.

The proposals faced fierce cross-party opposition. Cllr Ian Thorn, leader of the Liberal Democrat-run administration, said the panel's conclusions showed 'a lack of respect' and 'a lack of understanding' of councillors' work.

How it is being reported

• Councillors reject pay cuts that would save taxpayers £224,000Proposals to save Wiltshire taxpayers around £224,000 a year by overhauling councillors’ allowances have been overwhelmingly rejected.Swindon Advertiser · 23 Oct, 05:00
• Councillors reject pay cuts that would save taxpayers £224,000Proposals to save Wiltshire taxpayers around £224,000 a year by overhauling councillors’ allowances have been overwhelmingly rejected.Gazette & Herald · 23 Oct, 05:00
• Councillors reject pay cuts that would save taxpayers £224,000Proposals to save Wiltshire taxpayers around £224,000 a year by overhauling councillors’ allowances have been overwhelmingly rejected.Wiltshire Times · 23 Oct, 05:00

In this story: Wiltshire Council · Independent Remuneration Panel · Cllr Ian Thorn · Cllr Gavin Grant

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