The final four posts on local government and independence start with a look at money.
Firstly, a word of warning.
Due to the current perilous state of the UK’s public finances – and the incompetence of the last several UK governments – it would be difficult for anybody, let alone me ( without a university economics department or privately-funded think tank at hand) to make any projections on Welsh local government finances for the foreseeable future other than to say “things are looking a bit shit”.
I know full well when to cede to others’ knowledge of public sector economics.
So this post is more about policy options than spreadsheets and graphs. So it all comes with a healthy pinch of salt.
How are pay and expenses managed now?
The pay rates for elected members of councils and other local bodies (like National Parks Authorities) are decided by the Independent Remuneration Panel. The Panel may also express a view on pay for senior council officers such as chief executives. A similar body decides the pay and expenses for Senedd Members.
The panel usually makes an annual determination. In the Panel’s report for 2023-24, a local authority councillor is set to receive a minimum annual allowance of £17,600. More senior councillors – such as those with executive roles, like council leaders – can be paid up to £56,100-£66,000 depending on the size of the council.
There are top-up payments for members of National Parks Authorities and Fire Authorities. Allowances for town & community councillors are much lower.
While councillors technically need to be available 24/7, it’s considered a part-time role meaning most councillors who don’t hold an executive or leadership position are usually either retired or hold down a job.
£17,600 is well below the median annual salary in Wales (around £29,000), though it works out to be the equivalent of 35.5 hours a week at living wage (£9.50) or £14.10-an-hour based on a three-day working week (which is what’s used to calculate the figure).
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I don’t think full-time local politicians would be accepted, politically, without a massive cut in their number. If, as suggested above, the number of councillors were halved, then in principle the standard councillor allowance could increase to around £35,000 a year (a decent above-average full-time salary in Wales) at no additional cost to taxpayers.
That’s not the only option, of course.
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Either way, you would expect local politicians to be paid out of a central fund top-sliced from central government budgets. This ought to prevent arguments over “councillors spending more money on themselves” or “setting their own pay” – regardless of whether they’re full time or part-time.
