COUNCILLORS have had huge rises in their expenses at the same as householders have seen their council tax bills increase by more than 10%.Among the highest paid councillors is the Suffolk County Council leader – the position currently held by Jane Hore – who received £14,754 last year, while an ordinary backbench councillor picked up £6,324 and the chairman got £7,380.

COUNCILLORS have had huge rises in their expenses at the same as householders have seen their council tax bills increase by more than 10%.

Among the highest paid councillors is the Suffolk County Council leader – the position currently held by Jane Hore – who received £14,754 last year, while an ordinary backbench councillor picked up £6,324 and the chairman got £7,380.

At Babergh District Council, its joint review committee was deciding today whether to adopt new allowances of £3,000 for councillors and £6,000 for the chairman of council and the chairman of the strategy committee.

That would compare with the allowances for the last financial year of £2,725 for a councillor, with an extra £1,875 for the chairman.

At Suffolk Coastal District Council, the basic allowance for a councillor this year has been set at £2,400, double last year's figure of £1,200.

The council leader gets an additional allowance of £4,800, compared with £2,500 last year, the chairman gets an additional allowance of £2,400, compared with £1,500 last year, and a cabinet member gets an additional allowance of £1,800.

At Ipswich Borough Council – which has see a district council tax rise of 10% – last year's basic allowance for a councillor was £1,470 and will rise this year to £3,280.

The council leader's allowance will go from £6,110 to £13,120 and the main opposition group leader will get an additional £3,280 on top of the basic allowance.

On the Suffolk Police Authority, which has increased its demand from householders by 23% this year, members will now receive £5,000 per year, with an additional £4,000 for the vice-chairman and £8,000 for the chairman.

At Mid Suffolk District Council, its head of corporate support, Ian Rickard, is currently working on setting up a panel of independent members to advise on allowances for councillors.

The current allowance per councillor is £1,545, with the council leader getting an additional £3,708 and the chairman receiving an additional £1,236.