COUNCILLORS in York have voted in favour of an increase to their own basic allowances.

At a full meeting of the 47 elected members of City of York Council last night, the councillors backed an independent report which said their basic pay should go up from just over £7000 a year, to £8,667 a year.

Four councillors voted against the plans – independents Mark Warters and Johnny Hayes; and Green members Lars Kramm and Denise Craghill.

Cllr Warters rubbished the proposal for instant increases, and challenged his council colleagues to put off any changes until the start of the next council term.

He said the agreement between Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders to accept the recommendations would “ensure an orderly queue of snouts for the trough.”

“Councillors approving increases for themselves is unseemly and immoral.”

He argued that all the council’s 47 members knew of the rates of pay, and the work of a councillor, when they stood in May.

Postdating the increases to 2018 would stop people being dissuaded from politics on financial grounds, he said, but would get rid of any allegations of self-interest from the councillors.

Cllr Lars Kramm, who also opposed the deal, argued that councillors should not be increasing their pay when the council’s finances were under pressure, but instead should be “living the cuts”.

Council leader Chris Steward supported the motion, saying he did not want to see “a politics for the rich and for retired people.”

“Members don’t have to take this increase if they don’t want to. Not all members take all the money available to them.

“People don’t come in to this chamber for financial gain. The issue is not what should councillors be paid, the issue is people should not be put off politics because of money.”

Lib Dem Ashley Mason supported the moves, saying that while he was in a fortunate position to be able to spend time on his council responsibilities other young people should not be kept out of council because of money and work worries.

Conservative Stuart Rawlings added: “Collectively we have made our own problems here. We have deferred this twice and if we do it again it will have been more than 12 years.”

The 20 percent increase in the basic allowance came as part of a wider review, which took the total bill up by around 15 percent. The changes are to be backdated to the last election in May.

The same meeting saw council tax support for people in York increased – making the minimum anyone would have to pay, regardless of their income, 22.5 percent. A push by Labour councillors to make that figure 13 percent – as a report by researchers at Advice York has asked for - failed.

Advice York welcomed the increased support for the most vulnerable in York, but said they were disappointed about the level of increased support.

They had recommended that the poorest York residents should instead pay 17 percent of their council tax - a figure they based on the maximum deduction courts could take out of a person's benefits to pay off arrears and said would stop people building up debts they had no hope of ever repaying.