Argyll and Bute councillor rejects 'shameful' 22% pay rise in face of council tax hike

A councillor has said she will not accept the pay increase given to councillors in Argyll and Bute – and branded the rise of up to 22% as “shameful”.

Councillor Jennifer Kean (Independent, South Kintyre) made the comments about the increase, which was due to be set by the Government after a recent consultation with local authority bodies.

However, other councillors stated that the rise could be an incentive for younger people to become councillors and that the salary was the only source of income for some.

The discussion took place at a meeting of the full council on Thursday, February 27, when the council set its budget for 2025/26.

Councillor Kean said: “I fully understand that councillors’ remuneration is set by the government under the 2025 regulations and that by law, the council must pay the remuneration as set out by the regulations.

“I also understand that the recent increase as specified in the budget pack was following consultation by COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) and SLARC (Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee) over the last couple of years.

“However, I am also fully aware that no councillor is duty bound to accept any wage increase and therefore we as members could all decline to accept this increase if we so choose.

“I appreciate that this is a personal choice, however, my view is that every member of this council was aware of the remuneration of a councillor when they decided to stand for election.

“You wouldn’t apply for any other job knowing the advertised wage and expect that wage to increase by nearly 22% in less than three years’ time – and certainly no council staff member will be receiving such an increase to their pay packet.

“Morally, I think it is utterly shameful for us as representatives of our communities to accept such an increase when council tax is clearly going to increase, social rent is increasing and the cost of living generally also continues to skyrocket for our constituents.

“Furthermore, I don’t believe we should be accepting any increase which is greater than that our council staff will receive.

“My view on this is that we should all only accept an increase in line with council staff and put the remaining funds back into council reserves to go towards funding council services. Accepting anything more is a slap in the face to our communities and to all council staff, including every single staff member attending this meeting today.

“I personally will not be accepting the increase set out in the regulations and for this reason, I am unable to support either budget proposal today.”

Councillor Anne Horn (SNP, Kintyre and the Islands) said: “I have listened to the debate and listened to Councillor Kean, and it is admirable she is not going to accept any increase.

“But there are some people who are councillors who have no other source of income. That has to be taken into consideration.

“I have retired and have a pension, and my decision should I receive a rise is that I can support local community activities in my ward. That might help them to be more sustainable.”

Councillor John Armour (SNP, South Kintyre) added: “Many of us will make contributions to local organisations which we do not shout from the rooftops about.

“There are many for whom this is their only wage, and we will never attract new councillors with the wage that a councillor had.

“I think this increase does help to encourage people to come forward, and allow older councillors like myself to be replaced by younger councillors with more ideas.”