Mansfield mayor ‘disappointed’ by pay freeze for councillors - amid concerns over attracting people to seek election

Mansfield Council has approved an allowance freeze for all councillors for the next four years, with the basic sum staying at £6,386 per year – in contrast, Ashfield Council paid an allowance of £6,901.68 in 2021-22, while Conservative-led Nottinghamshire Council voted to give members a 4 per cent rise in November, taking their annual allowance to £15,894.98.

The allowance is the annual fee claimed by all elected members of the authority for their role as a councillor.

It is set by the Independent Remuneration Panel, which recommended a new scheme for the coming political term in Mansfield until 2027 and suggested the basic allowance should not rise.

It follows the authority approving a 10 per cent cut to special responsibility allowances for cabinet members and committee chairmen, in a bid to save £16,000 in the coming financial year.

It means Mansfield cabinet members will see their extra allowances drop by £1,382.78 to £12,445.05 – Nottinghamshire Council’s special responsibility allowance is £24,601.25.

The authority approved the basic allowance freeze and other allowance changes during its latest full council meeting.

However, Andy Abrahams, Mansfield mayor, said he hoped councillors’ pay could have been increased, because of the upcoming elections and the hope of encouraging more people to stand for office.

He said: “The only part of this report that I’m disappointed with is the amount for basic councillor allowance, which wasn’t increased.

“We really struggle to get councillors to engage and get enough councillors into the district.

“I think it would be good if that had been increased so we can get a wider cross-section of people from across the district that represents all areas.

“It’s a little bit of a shame that we didn’t up that amount to encourage more people to take on the role of councillor.

“There’s a lot of work involved and, economically, that might have encouraged a few more people [to stand].”

Mr Abrahams’ mayoral position, which receives a £49,377.04 allowance, has had its income frozen for the coming term.

He currently donates a third of this allowance to charity through his Mayor’s 500 community scheme.