Borough councillors in Swindon could receive a 6.5 per cent increase in their annual allowances – but that recommendation needs to be approved by councillors themselves.

And that seems unlikely.

Councillors do not set their allowances themselves, but a recommendation is made by an independent panel.  It is policy to link councillors’ allowances increase to pay rises for council staff – no change was made last year, but this year council staff are offered a flat pay increase of £1925

The remuneration panel report said: “This equates to an approximately 6.5 per cent increase on average for all staff.”

The panel was asked to consider making no recommended increase, an increase in line with staff increased pay or some other increase which could not exceed 6.5 per cent.

The report of the panel said it might be seen as reasonable not to increase allowances in times of economic hardships and straitened council budgets:

It said: “An advantage of not making a recommendation to increase members’ allowances is that it could be seen as a reasonable response to the current cost of living crisis, and the budget pressures that the council currently faces.

However, by not increasing the allowances, it could discourage people to stand as councillors in upcoming elections. Although not intended directly to recompense members for work undertaken, it does recognise the commitment of councillors and the time that they dedicate to their roles.

The report added: “If the panel were to increase the allowances by the average 6.5 per cent it could challenge the council’s budget at a time when there are significant pressures on expenditure.

“Residents may interpret the increase as disproportionate in the context of the current cost of living crisis. However, by not increasing the allowance at a similar rate to council employee salaries it may not reflect the importance of the councillor role.”

It looks like council leader David Renard is not keen on the increase, which would take an ordinary councillor’s allowance to £8,787, with a cabinet member receiving 2.5 times that - £21,967 and the leader four times that - £35,148.

He has recommended to the Conservative cabinet when it considers the report on Wednesday that it recommends councillors not accept the award.

If they do not, it would mean councillors have not had an increase in their allowance for two years since 2020-21.

Labour group leader Jim Robbins said his party's councillors would also vote against taking the recommended increase.