‘Unfortunately, democracy does cost money’: Councillors defend proposed pay rises

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Councillors in north Wales have defended proposed pay rises by warning that failing to properly fund local democracy could leave public office open only to the wealthy, drawing comparisons with the influence of billionaires on American politics.

As members received the latest recommendations for councillor remuneration next year, the chair of Flintshire’s Constitution and Democratic Services Committee, Cllr David Coggins Cogan, warned that underfunding democracy risked excluding lower income residents from choosing to seek election to serve their communities.

Published independently by the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru, the recommendations for 2027/28 propose a 3% increase in councillor salaries, from the leader Cllr Dave Hughes down to the newest elected councillor.

The remuneration of councillors is dealt with by DBCC so that members have no influence over their pay. The recommendations cover the whole of Wales and members can refuse to accept the increase – but only as an individual, not as a political group.

The recommendations will see leader’s pay increase from £71,025 to £73,156, deputy leaders’ pay go up by £1,492 to £51,209, Cabinet members’ rise by £1,278 to £43,893, and individual councillors receive an extra £63.

The DBCC has based its recommendations on a survey which it says shows – on average across Wales – that councillors do three days of work in their elected roles per week.

Recent comparisons to remuneration in 2022 – which showed councillor pay had increased 29% in five years – were challenged by Flintshire’s Chief Officer (Governance) Gareth Owen who pointed to adjustments made to bring councillor pay in-line with the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings in Wales (ASHE).

24/7, 365

“Show me the councillor that spends only three days a week doing council work,” he said . “They don’t exist. You (members) are on call 24/7, 365 days a year.

“I’ve known councillors who get called on Christmas Day and all sorts. People think 2pm on Christmas afternoon is the right time to ring their councillors.

“What happened in 2022 is that prior to this council term, the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) as it was then, didn’t upgrade earnings or uprated them very little.

“Earnings had moved on and councillors fell behind as a cohort. They then made a big jump in 2020, just before the election in their recommendations for 2022.

“So there was a big jump to catch up in 2022 so comparisons with pre-22 are grossly unfair because there was that deliberate attempt because allowances have fallen behind even the ASHE measure and the IRPW needed to catch up.”

In noting the report committee chair Cllr Coggins Cogan warned that democracy without funding risked excluding people from public service due to their income.

“Unfortunately, democracy does cost money,” he said. “The alternative may be cheaper, but it’s a lot less palatable.

“I think we only have to look to the United States. where the richest man in the world has tried to buy a number of elections – is that really the democracy we want to live in?”

Toxic debate

Mr Owens agreed.

“It’s a real shame that the debate about this is so toxic because, of course, public service is a really important aspect of our community,” said the chief officer. 

“It’s really important to the governance of the organisation that we have elected members. Means or income should not be a part of public service.

“We don’t want to go back to a position where only the wealthy are able to run the country. That would not reflect the societies that they serve.”

Once authorities across Wales have responded to the report the final version will be published on February 19 next year, with pay increases starting on May 1, 2027.