OXFORDSHIRE County Council members have agreed to increase their allowances by 19 per cent.

The vote comes less than 24 hours after council leader Ian Hudspeth revealed the authority must make another £20m of cuts, on top of the £64m axed from services last year.

Out of the 61 councillors who voted, 38 voted in favour, 20 voted against and three abstained. Two councillors, Roz Smith and Jamila Azad, were not present.

A report from the independent renumeration panel also recommended a rise for council leaders, taking the total annual allowance bill from £881,000 to £1.031m.

The council said it was the first review since 2011, which saw allowances frozen. It added the increase in basic allowance from £8,376 to £10,000 would still leave the local authority among the lowest in the south of England.

 

Post by Oxford Mail Interactive Graphics.

The changes are

  • Basic councillors' allowance to rise from £8,376 to £10,000 (+19%)
  • The leader’s allowance will rise from £25,131 to £29,000 (+15%)
  • The deputy leader’s allowance will rise from £16,754 to £20,000 (+19%)
  • Cabinet members’ allowances will rise from £12,565 to £16,000 (+27%)
  • The leader of the opposition’s allowance will fall from £12,565 to £8,000 (-36%)
  • Scrutiny committee chairmen’s allowance will rise from £5,050 to £6,000​

Five Conservative councillors said they would vote for the rise but not personally take the money.

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