Councillors say pay body is ‘out of touch with reality’ over pay rise

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

County councillors have accused the independent body charged with setting elected members pay of being ‘out of touch with reality’.

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC) has issued a draft report which would see Flintshire councillors’ salaries increased by 6.4% from April.

The move would see elected members’ basic pay rise from £19,771 to £21,044, with comparable increases for Cabinet members and committee chairs. The leader of the council would see their pay increase from £66,727 to £71,025.

Flintshire County Council’s Liberal Democrat Group leader, Cllr Andrew Parkhurst, criticised the report’s above inflation proposals when they came before the authority’s Constitution and Democratic Services Committee on Wednesday.

“I wonder whether the DBCC are out of touch with reality,” said Cllr Parkhurst. “Proposing a 6.4% increase for councillors may well link in with average earnings in Wales, but at a time when local authorities are facing almost bankruptcy in some cases that doesn’t sit comfortably.

“I think that any increase above inflation is very hard to justify.”

According to the Consumer Price Index, as of August 2025 UK inflation over 12 months was around 4%.

Labour group Cllr Sean Bibby agreed with Cllr Parkhurst.

“In terms of setting remuneration levels Cllr Parkhurst is spot on,” Bibby said. “We’re dealing with the context of local government that’s under severe pressure.

“I think personally any increase in our allowances should be tied to the NJC (National Joint Council for Local Government Services), to the Green Book.”

The Green Book is the NJC’s National pay agreement for local government services.

Sensible 

Cllr Bibby continued: “If there is an increase in our allowances it should be tied to the same increases that the people who collect our bins, the people that are our cleaners, the carers, the clerical staff the people who work in this local authority receive.

“That’s the most sensible approach. I also think attending outside bodies and Corporate Joint Committees is part of your job as a councillor and I don’t think there should be additional payments for that.

“The figures show this pay rise would add over £100,000 cost pressure to the council, I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

The draft report also asked for councillors views on ‘resettlement payments’ – parachute payments for councillors who fail to get re-elected. Similar payments are already made to Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd who lose their seats to help them transition out of government.

“I’d be against the resettlement payments – or parachute payments – for councillors at the the end of their time,” said Cllr Parkhurst.

“Having parachute payments will only encourage people to stand just to seek a payment when they don’t get elected. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do, I think we should be resisting that.”

Confidence 

Again, Cllr Sean Bibby joined Cllr Parkhurst in condemning the idea.

“I think in terms of resettlement payments let’s put it in context to the reality of how it works in the real world for our residents,” he said.

“Ultimately if you lose an election, the voters have sacked you. Now I don’t think there’s any industry out there where they give you a payment for getting the sack.

“If you lose an election, tough. You’ve lost the confidence of the people who voted so I don’t think you should get a payment for it.

“We’ve got many cases from the previous Senedd Election and General Election where individuals across the country stood, in many cases having defected from what they were originally elected for or where they had been involved in some form of misconduct, simply to get the payment.

“As far as I’m concerned resettlement payments are a no-no.”

The committee agreed and unanimously voted in favour of Democratic Services Manager Steve Goodrum feeding their concerns back to the DBCC.