Councillors' Allowances

In the recent Conservative Party manifesto they say "They even put up their personal allowances by 12%" Here is the truth Coupled with the reduction in the number of councillors, the overall councillor pay bill was reduced by £22,547 a year.  In 2008/09 the total councillor allowances and expenses came to £389,296.  In 2017/18 the total was £338,855, a reduction of over 13% or £50,000. In May 2016 the number of councillors of Elmbridge borough was reduced 60 to 48.  This move was supported by the Liberal Democrats who would rather have had the number of councillors set to 32 or even fewer. In consideration of this reduction in the number of councillors and the consequent increase in workload, the the independent body that recommends councillors' pay decided to undertake a comprehensive review of councillors' pay in Elmbridge. The Liberal Democrats view was whatever the review body recommended, we would accept it. The review decided that councillors should be paid less than £7 an hour (the minimum living wage is £8.75-£10.20). Some pay would be cut, others increased - depending on the workload involved. The Liberal Democrats voted to implement the recommendations of the independent review body. The Conservative did not.  So the Conservatives voted to set up an independent review body to remove the possibility of councillors setting their own pay and then - when the review body reported its findings - voted against the findings. The review was coherent and comprehensive - see the report for yourself Report of the Independent Remuneration Panel - September 2016.