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Another deferral is expected when it comes to deciding the amount of cash Middlesbrough councillors receive annually. The town's councillors are being recommended to increase their basic allowance for the current financial year, from £7,608, to the Teesside average of £8,999.
A crunch vote is coming at full council on Wednesday November 26, where councillors will be given the same options as they were in September : see the basic allowance increase while all over allowances remain at 2024 levels (both recommended by an independent panel), or propose its own scheme of allowances. The authority is required to publish a members scheme of allowances on an annual basis, and allowances should reflect the level of work, time and commitment of the role of councillor.
In September, councillors deferred making a decision on the matter. Due to freeze after freeze, Middlesbrough councillors are some of the lowest paid in the country. The panel's previous 2024 recommendation was to increase the basic allowance to meet the Teesside average and not reflect staff inflationary pay awards. However, this recommendation was rejected by councillors and the basic allowance has remained the same since 2022, according to council documents.
It should be noted that councillors do not receive a salary, rather, they are entitled to claim a basic allowance, with special responsibility allowances for certain positions, including executive members, the mayor and the chairs of most committees. The allowances for chairing some committees (such as licensing or planning) are higher than the basic allowance for councillors.
Opinions vary and are strongly held across the council chamber, and not so closely aligned along political party lines, as is often the case on other matters. However, in spite of all the opinions, Middlesbrough's Labour Mayor Chris Cooke thinks that no immediate decision should be made and councillors should go back to the drawing board to improve the proposals.
The Local Government Chronicle said in July that Middlesbrough councillors were the fourth worst remunerated in England, with only Rutland, North Lincolnshire and Luton worse off. It should be noted that this measure is among "upper tier" councillors, so refers to county councillors in areas that have a county and district structure (like Kent). In the North East, councils are unitaries, meaning that they cover both the upper tier responsibilities (maintaining the roads and libraries) as well as the lower tier responsibilities (rubbish collections and planning permission).
Middlesbrough councillors receive less cash than all of their Tees Valley and North East counterparts. The best paid councillors in the land can be found in Birmingham, where members receive nearly £20,000 a year, whilst just across Middlesbrough's council boundary in North Yorkshire, councillors will receive a basic allowance just shy of £18,000 in 2026/27, following a recent vote to increase their remuneration by 3.6%.
Back in Middlesbrough, independent Councillor Joan McTigue and Conservative David Coupe are on opposite sides of the debate. They both set out their views prior to the September vote, with Cllr McTigue then describing the role as "not a job... it's a voluntary position". The pair have now reaffirmed their stances, with Cllr McTigue saying: "Bearing in mind the financial state of this council, the fact that many residents are having to resort to food banks and we're classed as voluntary, there should be no increases."
Meanwhile, David Coupe said: "Personally I feel that in the future that if you want to entice people to become councillors, the money should be equal to [the recommendation]. It's only gone up twice in 10 years."
"People don't become a councillor for the money but equally, you don't want to be out of pocket. It's a very hard decision to make, I wouldn't like to say which way it goes, it's literally up to every individual." As Conservative leader on Middlesbrough Council, he confirmed that he wouldn't be directing his group on which way to vote on the matter, commenting that he thought that "one or two" Tory councillors will definitely be against the proposed increase.
He compared the situation councillors found themselves in to "marking their own homework" and suggested setting allowances at a level of inflation in future, to take the matter out of councillors hands.
If councillors agree to the recommendations, this would increase the total basic allowance spending from £357,576 to £422,953 - an increase of £65,377. It is noted that the Independent Panel on Members' Remuneration - who made the recommendation of an increase of £1,391 to the basic allowance, provided to all 46 councillors and the elected mayor - acts independently from the council and neither council officers nor elected members have any influence.
However, the matter may not come down to accepting or rejecting, but instead another deferral. Mayor Cooke spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Tuesday November 19, and thought there was a better way forward than what was being proposed.
He said he had not directed Labour councillors to vote in a certain way on the matter and did not believe that there would be a Labour party line on the vote. When asked if he thought the proposals would get through he said: "Probably not."
He went on to say: "Councillors are actively working on a refreshed scheme because at the minute, none of it makes sense. The way that it works is the only remunerator are the things that we tell [the independent panel] need remuneration. So for example, one of the things that I pointed out was if you are the chair of the licensing sub-committee, you don't receive any compensation for the fact - and some of those run for days."
In other words, council puts forward the scope of what should be looked at when it comes to dishing out the cash, but the independent panel set the recommended allowance for different roles. Mayor Cooke said that historically, no one's really understood that, and that he probably didn't until a recent meeting on the matter.
Mayor Cooke added: "We've never put [licensing sub-committee chair] into the scheme for remuneration so the entire scheme needs looking at again." He thought current proposals would be rejected and looked at again "until there's a proper scheme." He spoke about officers at looking at other areas in the country and whether positions such as vice-chairs of committees are given money (they are not in Middlesbrough).
When asked why these proposals had come to full council twice if the work hadn't been done yet, he said: "I have absolutely no idea... I don't control council agenda, I'm not allowed near council agenda."
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