'We're not in it for the money': Newcastle councillors set for 3% pay rise next year

The city’s elected representatives agreed this month that their basic annual allowance should jump by 3.18% in 2026,  taking it from £10,218 to £10,543.

Often reluctant to accept pay uplifts at a time when the local authority is preparing budget cuts and council tax rises, councillors had agreed 12 months ago that their rise for 2026/27 would be set at the same rate as the lowest-earning Civic Centre employees.

That decision was formally signed off at a meeting earlier this month, with councillors voting 44 to nine in favour of the move.

Labour councillor Lara Ellis told colleagues at December’s full council meeting that the requirement to set their own pay packets “should be taken out of councillors’ hands” by the Government, but that was not an option.

She added: “Councillors seek election because they care about their community. It is not for the money, there are easier ways to earn money. However, it is important to note that if it were not for councillor allowances a great many – me included – would not be able to consider becoming a councillor. Many working class citizens would be excluded and valuable voices lost.”

Colin Ferguson, leader of the council’s Lib Dem opposition, agreed that the matter was “not something we should be deciding upon at a local level” and that the current system leads to significant disparities in allowances between neighbouring areas for what is essentially the same role.

There was controversy in North Tyneside earlier this year when the council signed off allowance uplifts totalling £130,000, with some members’ salaries jumping by 235%.

Coun Ferguson said: “Nobody particularly likes to have to go through this particular item each year. But it is, I think, positive that Newcastle is at least showing some restraint while recognising that, if we are to attract the kind of people that the residents of our city deserve to represent them, we need to acknowledge the time and the effort that each of us puts in.” 

The total cost of the 3.18% increases in Newcastle for 2026/27, alongside uplifts to further allowances to councillors with added responsibilities, will be £36,000.

Independent councillor Marc Donnelly, a long-term opponent of allowance increases, criticised the move.

He urged colleagues to invoke the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge this Christmas, saying: “We need to be frugal and as long as council tax is going up, allowances should be frozen.”

Council tax in Newcastle is expected to rise by 4.99% next year, the maximum allowed without a referendum, while 75 jobs are set to be lost under £3.9 million local authority budget cuts.