DISCUSSIONS of a £2,432 pay rise for councillors will return for debate at a Blaenau Gwent council meeting this Thursday.

At a Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council meeting back in March, councillors were unhappy with the decisions published by the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) in February.

The IRPW decided that the annual basic salary for all county councillors in Wales will go up from £14,368 to £16,800.

This is a rise of 17 per cent.

Councillors decided to kick the pay rise into the long grass and defer the matter until after the local government elections, which took place earlier this month.

The IRPW’s decision has now came into force.

At the meeting in March, councillors said they were uncomfortable taking the pay rises when the cost-of-living crisis is affecting so many residents.

They wanted the council to reject the pay increases and keep salaries at their 2021/22.

Councillors can’t reject the pay increase, but they could decide to forego a portion of their salary if they do this in writing.

The report by head of organisational development Andrea Prosser explains: “With effect from May 9 the determinations set out in this report in will apply

to principal councils, community and town councils.”

The hike is pay is due to the IRPW looking to reinstate councillors’ salary with the Annual Survey of Hourly Earnings (ASHE) which is published by the Office of National Statistics. (ONS).

In 2009 the IRPW decided the average work commitment of an elected

councillor of a principal council was three working days.

The maximum basic salary reflected three fifths of the then-median gross earnings of full-time male employees’ resident in Wales as reported in the ASHE.

But with the coming of austerity measures and cuts, the link to ASHE was broken.

The IRPW believe that now is the time to reset that link and align councillors’ basic salary with the 2020 ASHE.

The new council leader and members of the cabinet/executive team could also see a substantial hike in their pay packets.

In their report the IRPW believe that council leaders should receive a salary “at or above” a back bench member of Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament and being in the cabinet/executive should be seen as a “full time job.”

The council leader will receive £53,550 a year rising from £44,921.

The deputy leader will receive £37,485 rising from £31,783.

Councillors on the cabinet/executive would receive £32,130 which is up from £27,741.

Other senior roles such as committee chairmen or women, leader of the opposition and other group leaders would stay at this year’s level, but with the post holder receiving the basic rise.