This really is wrong, Council Staff are so highly paid and outside of the council people are on minimum wage!
The Council should freeze all wage increases. Period. And there is also the back pay on top of the wage increases. It really is shameful.
Conwy County Council councillors have described their discomfort at a proposed 6.4% increase to their salaries. An authority committee discussed proposals this week to increase the leader’s pay by more than £4,000 and the deputy’s by over £3,000.
Under new proposals, the leader’s salary will increase from £66,727 to £71,025. The deputy leader’s salary will increase from £46,709 to £49,717.
The leader earned just £49,974 in 2020/21 whilst the deputy was paid £35,320. Councillors' salaries are set externally – in past years by the Independent Remuneration Panel and now by the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC).
Under the proposed rises, executive members, or cabinet members, will see their salary increase from £40,036 to £42,615. Last year cabinet members’ salaries increased from £37,799 to £40,036 in 2025.
Committee chairs and civic heads salaries will also increase from £29,657 to £31,567. It is proposed that councillors on a basic salary – “based on a full time equivalent of three days a week” – will see their salaries increased from £19,771 to £21,044, an increase of 6.4%.
The debate took place at a democratic services committee meeting at the authority’s Coed Pella HQ on Monday (24 November). The committee discussed DBCC’s draft annual remuneration report, which sets the range and level of councillors’ wages for the financial year 2026/27.
Abergele councillor Paul Luckock suggested a public consultation to gauge public opinion in future. But several back benchers slammed the proposals.
Llandudno councillor Mandy Hawkins said she was “uncomfortable” with the rise. “Whilst I agree they should be put up because some people are on different financial amounts than other people – and I understand, as with everything, everyone’s pay should go up – I just feel the need that I don’t agree with this 6.4% increase,” she said.
“The reason I don’t is that it feels uncomfortable. Our own workers (council workers) themselves are not getting that increase as well as a lot of people across Wales.” She added: “I know it is up to individual councillors what they do, so that’s fine, and I’ll do what I’ve always done. But because of that, it sits uncomfortably with me at this time.”
Conwy councillor Sian Grady agreed. “I have to agree with Mandy (Cllr Hawkins) on this,” she said. “There are many people who are lucky to get any percentage pay rise and over the last five years haven’t had 6% overall, and it does sit uncomfortably, and we have this debate every year, and nothing ever gets done because we carry on getting the pay rise.
“I do find myself in a bit of an impossible situation because, yes, we could refuse individually the money, but in the long run, it doesn’t particularly help if the odd individual gives it back. It is insignificant in the amount of money we have.”
She added: “But I do find it really uncomfortable when people are struggling so much with the cost of living, and we just appear in public to keep getting a pay rise, regardless of what anybody else is doing.”
Llandudno Junction councillor Sue Shotter said: “I absolutely agree with Cllr Sian and Cllr Mandy (Cllr Grady and Cllr Hawkins). I think it is really important that we get a diverse amount of people coming in, and yes, it needs a wage to cover that. But I absolutely think 6.4% is excessive.”
She added: “Unfortunately, it looks bad on us as councillors, but we have very little control over this. We don’t determine this ourselves, and that must be remembered. This is not us deciding what we want. There is a body that actually does that, and I think it is very important that we take that into consideration today.”
Old Colwyn councillor David Carr added: “I think we do know what residents think, and when we go to talk to our residents, they are not happy about politicians being paid more money, not just us but politicians in parliament or in Welsh parliament, so we don’t need a consultation, Paul (Cllr Luckock) because we know what people think.”
The DBCC’S formal deadline on the proposed determinations ended on 18 November 2025, but the body has agreed to accept Conwy County Council’s responses due to the committee’s timetabling. The committee has delegated authority to review the draft report and formulate a response on behalf of the council.
The final report will be published by the DBCC before the end of 2025, following the body taking over responsibility from the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales.
The committee agreed to review the proposals within the draft annual remuneration report 2026/27, to share the minutes with the DBCC, advising any increase should not exceed the average received by public-sector workers.
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