A DECISION to increase councillors' allowances by 22 per cent has sparked criticism from opposition members.

The basic allowance of Redcar and Cleveland Borough councillors, who approved the increases at a full council meeting yesterday afternoon, will go up from £6,630 to £8,150. But they will be expected to spend more time on council business.

Councillors in more senior positions, such as the cabinet chairman and deputy chairman, will get even greater increases, of about 50 per cent. The deputy mayor will get the biggest increase of more than 500 per cent, from £570 to £3,750.

The increases were recommended by an independent remuneration panel, based on a report from Dr Declan Hall of the University of Birmingham.

The main reason for the rise in the basic allowance is the increase in the number of days that councillors are expected to spend on council business, up from 104 to 116. The panel said the council should increase the number of remunerated days and the classifications of special responsibility allowances.

The council has decided this should be discounted by one third to reflect the voluntary nature of some councillors' duties. This gives a discounted figure of 77 days a year, previously 69 days.

But Labour leader George Dunning believes the proposals have come at a particularly bad time.

He said: "In a year when council tax has gone up by six per cent, bus passes and fares for senior citizens and the disabled have been put up and with the fiasco over job evaluation when some members of council staff have had to suffer, I think such huge increases are indecent."

In a report to the full council, councillors were warned that not increasing allowances to levels comparable with other councils would prejudice the recruitment of experienced councillors.

Cabinet member for corporate resources Glyn Nightingale said: "This is the result of an independent panel's assessment which did not include input from councillors.

"My view is that we should accept what they say as it is not right for councillors to set their own pay levels.

"The council has a £300m budget and is the biggest employer in the borough. The remuneration of councillors is a tiny part of that budget."