'Pay rise' on the cards for Portsmouth city councillors
City councillors have discussed whether to give themselves a pay rise as some people, including the leader, are paid less than those at other authorities.
At a recent governance, audit and standards committee meeting, members reviewed Portsmouth City Councillor allowances. In the UK, councillor allowances are payments made to compensate councillors for their time and expenses. They are not considered a salary but are intended to make local governance accessible to people from all backgrounds.
The council’s independent remuneration panel (IRP) completed its most recent review of members’ allowances, which had not been updated since 2021.
The panel recommended that the basic allowance, paid to all elected councillors, remains at £13,516 per year, which is relatively high. Other allowances for special responsibilities, travel, and care costs were proposed modest increases.
Councillors George Madgwick and Russell Simpson criticised the benchmark data used by the IRP to inform its recommendations. The IRP had compared allowances against data from other unitary and county authorities in the South East, using figures from South East Employers (SEE) and the council’s statistical ‘nearest neighbours’, according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
Madgwick argued that the SEE data compares Portsmouth to councils “that have a completely different structure to ours”, including some with smaller populations, whereas CIPFA selects 10 councils considered more similar across the country.
He added that Portsmouth councillors receive the lowest allowances according to CIPFA, except for the basic allowance. According to SEE data, the council leader’s allowance, currently £23,499, ranks seventh out of 12, while CIPFA places Portsmouth as paying the least for the leader’s position out of ten comparable councils. Even if the IRP’s recommended increase to the leader’s allowance is introduced, Portsmouth would still pay the least it said.
Cllr Madgwick argued that Portsmouth council leaders have needed supplementary income for the past 20 years to afford the role.
Council officers said all previous reports have been based solely on SEE data, as is common practice for councils in the South East. They added that the IRP was “mindful” of the public purse when making its recommendations.
Councillor Russell Simpson, initially opposed to any increase in allowances, stating it would be “inappropriate” during a cost of living crisis. However, he revised his stance, arguing that better support for councillors might prevent them from needing supplementary jobs, allowing them to focus fully on their roles.
Cllr Simpson amended the recommendation, and thanked the IRP for its time and hard work, but deferred the decision to a meeting on February 5, to allow members of the committee and the IRP to “discuss the report and ask questions in person”.