Portsmouth councillors’ pay under review as debate set for March
Portsmouth city councillors will debate their pay next month after a review found they receive some of the lowest allowances compared to similar councils across the country.
Councillors will discuss their pay next month after an independent remuneration panel (IRP) review recommended keeping their basic salary at £13,516 per year.
Modest increases have been proposed for other special responsibilities, such as transport and care costs.
Council reports indicate that, if approved, the total members' allowance costs would rise by £14,957 by 2026/27.
The recommendations were previously criticised by Cllr George Madgwick and Cllr Russell Simpson in December last year for relying on data from South East Employers (SEE) rather than the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to compare the council with other authorities.
Cllr 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.
According to CIPFA, Portsmouth councillors receive the lowest allowances except for the basic allowance. SEE data ranks the council leader’s allowance—currently £23,499—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 implemented, Portsmouth would still pay the least.
At a recent meeting, Cllr Russell Simpson said: “Last time we had this in, I was saying how inappropriate for councillors to have pay rises considering cost of living at the moment but considering it’s done every four years we do have to review it.
“One of the main things that was highlighted was the benchmarking between the SEE and CIPFA and how we come more under one than the other as an authority.”
He added that recent council leaders have struggled financially, sometimes requiring supplementary income from another job or a life partner.
The recommendations will be debated at full council on March 18.