St Helens councillors among highest paid in Liverpool City Region

While councillors do not receive a salary, unlike council officers, they are able to claim allowances and some expenses.

Every councillor that is elected onto the council receives a basic allowance.

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Some councillors who are given additional roles, such as cabinet members, are then able to claim for a special responsibility allowance.

Many councillors, including cabinet members, also work full-time or part-time in addition to their roles on the council.

Recommendations in relation to allowances are made by independent remuneration panels.

The council must have regard to those recommendations before making or amending a scheme of members’ allowances.

In St Helens, all allowances for elected members in 2019-20 have had a two per cent bump in line with the local government pay offer for staff.

Every councillor in St Helens will receive a basic allowance of £8,094, which is the lowest in the Liverpool City Region.

However, members of the Labour cabinet will receive a special responsibility allowance of £16,182 – the highest across the city region.

Like St Helens, Sefton has agreed to increase its allowances by two per cent, although these have not yet been approved by full council.

If approved, cabinet members in Sefton will be able to claim £15,859, with a basic allowance of £9,333.

Councillors in Liverpool recieve the highest basic allowance, being able to claim £10,382.

In Knowsley, they can claim £9,667, Halton £8,597 and £8,712 in Wirral.

Cabinet members in Knowsley can claim a special allowance of £14,501, Liverpool councillors can claim £13,009, Halton councillors can claim £12,414 and Wirral councillors can claim £9,171.

In St Helens, the special allowance for the council leader is also the highest in the city region, excluding Liverpool, where there is an elected mayor.

St Helens Council’s current leader David Baines is able to claim a special allowance of £35,064.

St Helens Council leader David Baines

This still pales in comparison to Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson, who can claim £81,901.

In Knowsley, the leader can claim £29,003, while Wirral Council’s leader gets £22,927 and Halton’s gets £22,169.

If the two per cent increase is approved, Sefton Council’s leader will be able to claim around £23,070.

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Outside of the city region, councillors in Warrington will receive £8,321 and those in Wigan will get £12,798.

Warrington’s cabinet can claim £10,008 each while Wigan’s can claim £17,300.

The leader of Warrington Council will be able to claim  £20,015 while Wigan Council’s can pocket £48,484.

St Helens Council declined to comment.