MANY residents will be surprised to discover that for the last 11 years, councillors have been entitled to a pension for their “civic” role and that one in four county, city and district councillors are currently members of the “gold plated” scheme.

Its abolition from April next year will not save a lot – £7m-a-year in the UK for a Government set to spend £720bn this financial year.

However, its abolition is needed to show councillors are doing their bit to tackle the country’s deficit.