Councillors on the new North Yorkshire Council will be able to claim allowances of up to £15,500 a year.
The elected representatives roles as councillors are unpaid, but they can claim allowances.
The new allowances represent an increase of just over £5,000 on the allowances currently available to county councillors.
The figure has been calculated by an independent panel, which says the new figure reflects the increased workload that councillors will face from April when the districts and borough councils are abolished and the number of councillors in the county drops from 319 to 90.
Council Leader Carl Les says there are a number of important issues to be considered .
County Councillor Kevin Foster says there are also other important considerations.
The number of councillors serving on North Yorkshire’s county, district and borough councils will reduce from 319 to 90 as a unitary authority is launched on April 1st.
While some members of the district and borough councils have raised concerns over how well represented residents will be by fewer councillors, many of those elected to serve on the new authority say they will be taking on the work of four district or borough councillors.
John Thompson, chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel which recommended the allowance rate, said while councillors, as volunteers, should not paid at a commercial rate for their time, allowances should not be set at a level which acts as a disincentive to conscientious performance of duties.
He added:
“It is also important to take into account the need to continue to attract the required calibre of candidate from a diverse range of backgrounds, to stand and serve as a councillor.”
The panel, members of which have no connection to the council, said it had also taken inflation and allowances paid in comparable unitary authorities into account when making the recommendation.
The panel said it recognised the economic challenges being faced within the community and had been guided by and taken into consideration the average pay awards in the public sector of four to five per cent.
The panel’s report states:
“Councillors volunteer for their roles. They are not remunerated at a commercial rate for their time, as if they were employees. However, the allowances should not be set at a level which acts as a disincentive to conscientious performance of duties, or which does not reflect the considerable time commitment required for the role.
“It is important that the council feels able to attract high quality candidates to stand as councillors, from a wide variety of backgrounds.
“There should also be no financial barrier to anyone who wishes to stand for election.”
Leading members of the county council have said although it represents a 50 per cent increase on what they received last year from the Northallerton-based authority, as allowances would no longer be paid by district and councils, many dual-hatted councillors were facing an overall cut in allowances.
Concerns have been raised that with the additional demands on unitary authority members, allowances need to be increased more to allow elected members to cover their costs and attract a cross-section of society to represent their communities.
As the total cost of basic allowances paid over the last year to the county’s 319 county and district councillors is about £2m, the panel’s recommendation represents a saving of £636,000.
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