[park381]

Originally Posted by Gayle Knight

I know, it's ridiculous isn't it. Most people would be grateful for 2% these day. Although admittedly the basic rate for being a Councillor is only £4,000, after the increase which is not a lot. If you want to attract younger people to become Councillors you have to pay them a decent amount to make up for the loss of other income through going to meetings etc. It is one of the reasons why we have so many ageing Councillors because they've all retired from their day jobs. I'm not defending the 26% hike, just trying to play devils advocate and understand the rationale.

On top of the increase, have they not scrapped the rule where they had to attend so many meeting for nothing. Don't they also get out of pocket expenses on top of the £4k.

There seems to be a %age of retired persons on the council, so they are making a nice little living out of getting on as many committees as possible. Are most of the meetings not at night?

At the end of the day, what is the reason for becoming a councillor, to earn a living or to help the community.