Milton Keynes councillors all awarded pay rise

The increase will bring their annual allowance up to £10,500 plus expenses.

They will also pocket a two per cent increase every year for the next four years, it has been agreed.

An Independent Remuneration Panel examined the basic allowances for councillors as well as the extra payments received by leaders, committee chairs and Cabinet members.

Most of the extras went unchanged - apart from the creation of £5,000 a year payment for the deputy council leader.

The panel said they were “greatly concerned that the deputy leader’s role was not currently recognised in the scheme of allowances.

Council leader Pete Marland’s sum of £30k will stay the same, as will a Cabinet member’s allowance of £11k.

The mayor will continue to receive £11k a year and his deputy £5.5k.

The panel decided the general councillors’ rise was justified due to the extra pressures they face.

The report read: “The panel was cognisant of the additional workloads placed on all councillors as a result of the rapid growth taking place in Milton Keynes and the increasing complexity of the role as a result of this.”

Panel members, who included a PricewaterhouseCooper expert, also advised the council to investigate helping councillors manage their “work-life balance” to help juggle the demands of being a councillor with employment and family life.