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

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 back bench 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 10pc – 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 23pc 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.