ALLOWANCES paid to Harlow Councillors are set to be discussed at a meeting of Full Council on Thursday 7 February 2019 following an independent panel’s recommendation of an increase in current levels. If agreed, it would be the first increase in Councillor allowances since 2010.

Currently the basic annual allowance paid to Councillors is £4,270 per year (before tax and national insurance deductions), which, if proposals are agreed, would rise by five percent to £4,485 from April 2019. This represents an increase of £4.13 per week. In addition, Councillors who carry out extra responsibilities receive a Special Responsibility Allowance. It is proposed that this allowance increases by two percent.

Even with these increases, the allowances received by Harlow Councillors will remain amongst the lowest of any comparable Council and are significantly below the basic allowance for Essex County Councillors of £12,000 per year.

Councillor Mark Ingall, Leader of Harlow Council, said: “I understand that allowances paid to Councillors are rightly subject to serious scrutiny by residents and Council staff. I want to assure people that if these increases are agreed, it will not be at the expense of services. If we had to cut a single service or activity to fund these increases, we would not even be having the discussion. As it is, the increases, if agreed, will be funded out of money set aside in our budget and there will be no impact to residents or our staff.

“The independent panel initially recommended that Councillors receive a 15% increase on the basic allowance when they benchmarked Harlow’s allowances against other Councils’, however I am very mindful of the rightful sensitivity to any increase and so I argued that the increase should be reduced to 5%. Of course how Council tax payers’ money is spent is very important and the recommendations of the panel must be the subject of a debate in Full Council.

“The work of a Councillor involves attending meetings and taking part in panels, meeting with and representing residents’, and spending considerable time understanding the complex issues that are crucial to decisions taken by the Council. The allowance covers costs incurred in the performance of these duties, for example travel and child care, as well as providing some remuneration for the time invested.

“Without Councillor allowances, many people would not be able to afford to perform these tasks and we do not want a situation where only the wealthy are able to represent our residents. Councillors come from all walks of life and we would never wish for the absence of an adequate allowance to be an obstacle to anyone considering putting themselves forward to be a Councillor.”