Former Mayor Councillor Nash Ali

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ONE of the longest-serving councillors at the Town Hall has said that members do not get enough in allowances – as Camden voted to increase their pay.

Labour councillor Nash Ali, who has been on the council for more than 20 years and twice served as the borough’s mayor, said people did not understand how hard councillors worked and how they were also – unfairly, to his mind – cut out of Camden’s pension scheme.

But Liberal Democrat councillor Matthew Kirk said councillors risked looking like they were “feathering their nests” in the midst of the cost of living crisis – with a jump in allowances over the past two years.

The new pay awards will mean all councillors will now receive £16,084 a year as a basic, but many will collect extra payments for various roles such as chairing committees or working as a whip.

Cabinet councillors will get £43,410 a year, while the council leader will now be paid £59,805.

The majority of councillors also have day jobs and privately paid work.

The debate over councillors’ cash came up in two separate meetings.

As the rises were discussed at the audit committee, Cllr Ali said: “Personally, I don’t think it’s enough – someone’s retired and has loads of money, that’s fine. But if you want to get younger people, if you want to get more women, more people from minority backgrounds, then we know that times are hard at the moment financially.”

He added: “Sometimes people have miscon­ceptions that councillors get loads of money in the community. This doesn’t highlight the amount of work – it’s like a full time job.”

He added that it was “unfair” and “double standards” that councillors could not join the pension scheme.

Lib Dem councillor Matthew Kirk

Cllr Kirk’s comments came at last week’s full council meeting when the increases were approved.

He said that while the proposals matched the rise that council staff were receiving, it did not feel right in the year following a 17.63 per cent pay rise for councillors voted through last year.

“Compounding that with an additional 2.5 per cent takes it to 20.57 per cent increase over the course of two years,” he said.

“It is entirely unconscionable. There has been no material suggesting there is a democratic deficit that needs to be addressed by a huge hike.

“There are better uses for £150,000 a year than feathering members’ own nest.”

The system works where councillors vote on and decide their own allowances.

Camden Council says its payments are lower than the amount local politicians get in other areas.

Council leader Labour councillor Richard Olszewski said: “You should bear in mind that we all come from different circumstances and so on. This is more cynical Lib Dem anti-democratic arguments about somehow we are feathering our own nests.

“A 2.5 increase this year is in line with what the staff are receiving – it’s perfectly reasonable.”