COUNCILLORS are due to decide on how much they should get paid for the coming year.

Members of Durham County Council will be voting on their annual allowance scheme, which has been recommended by an independent panel, at a meeting today.

The allowance has not increased in eight years, which means councillors allowance have fallen by ten per cent compared to other council workers and if they do not rise before 2020, then it will be almost 20 per cent below the living wage, which is set to rise to £9 an hour.

The panel asked councillors for their views on the scheme, and received two responses.

One said: “Whilst the allowance is not officially a salary, it could be argued that the council would be breaching the spirit of the living wage.

“Of course the public probably would not mind this. However ensuring quality councillors are willing to stand for election is essential, particularly in terms of having a high standard of scrutiny of council business and paying them less than the lowest paid workers in the country would not make sense in light of their responsibilities.”

The panel has recommended that allowances should not be increased, saying that there is no clear demand from members and the rate paid to Durham councillors was on a par with those of other authorities.

The authority’s scheme remains the most generous in the region, with members entitled to a basic allowance of £13,300.

The next highest basic allowance is paid to Northumbria councillors, who get £13,161, while the lowest is paid to those from Middlesbrough, who get £6253.

In Newcastle, councillors get £8,775, in Sunderland the basic allowance is £8,369 and in Darlington they get £8,027.

As well as their basic allowance, cabinet members will get an additional £13,300, council leader Councillor Simon Henig gets an extra £36,575 and deputy leader Cllr Alan Napier gets an additional £19,950.

Chairman and vice-chairman of council committees get between £1,330 and £13,300 for their additional duties while the six opposition leaders get £3,325

Councillors are also entitled to claim 45p a mile for car travel while performing official duties.