WARRINGTON Borough Council's councillors have seen their basic allowances increase by more than £700 in the last five years.

In 2017, the basic allowance that councillors could claim was £8,013.96 each year - since then, councillors' allowances have been raised to £8,750.

This is an increase of almost ten per cent over five years.

However, this increase is less than the rate of inflation - if accounted for inflation then the basic allowances should have increased to £8,970.51.

Councillors' allowances are not the same as salaries. Most councillors will have other jobs, and the allowances are meant to reflect the additional work undertaken by councillors to represent taxpayers.

The largest increase in basic allowances came last year, as they increased by nearly £300.

Warrington Guardian: Warrington's council tax has increased nearly five per cent in the latest tax yearWarrington's council tax has increased nearly five per cent in the latest tax year

In 2021, the amount spent on councillors' allowances was £722,078.09 - 0.15 per cent of the council's total expenditure.

Warrington Borough Council had 57 councillors listed in 2021, meaning each councillor cost the council an average of £12,668.

This average cost of each councillor is almost half of Warrington's average salary, which is £27,000.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr. Russ Bowden, is paid an additional £20,015.04 for his role - an amount that has not increased over the past five years.

Warrington Guardian: Cllr. Bowden has been Leader of the Council since 2018Cllr. Bowden has been Leader of the Council since 2018

Cllr. Bowden was also the only councillor to claim travel expenses between April 2020 and March 2021, when most of the country was in and out of lockdowns.

A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: "Members' allowances are recommended to the council by the Independent Remuneration Panel. The panel undertook a review in September 2020, and a number of reductions were proposed to the special responsibility allowances, which were agreed in full by the council. In addition, the recommendation to increase the basic allowance from £8,321 to £8,750 was agreed by the council.

“The panel also recommended for the basic allowance for councillors to increase annually, in accordance with a percentage amount for inflation. In 2019, the percentage increase was 1.8 per cent, in line with Consumer Price Index figures at the time. In 2018/19, a 2 per cent increase was applied, and in 2017/18, a 1 per cent increase was applied in line with the increase in pay for council staff.”