London councillors' 20% pay rise in three years

Councillors in London have voted themselves 20 per cent pay rises since being elected, figures reveal today.

Allowances have increased by more than £5million since the last town hall elections in 2006 and cost council tax-payers more than £31million a year.

Thirteen of the 32 boroughs run up bills in excess of £1million a year, with senior councillors routinely receiving £40,000 or more.

Eighteen boroughs paid their members a basic wage of more than £10,000 in the 2008/09 financial year. Council leaders and the capital's three directly-elected mayors - in Newham, Lewisham and Hackney - have their basic allowances boosted by top-up awards.

Sir Robin Wales, the Labour mayor of Newham, receives the biggest allowance in London aside from Boris Johnson's Greater London Authority administration, earning £78,063 a year, up 2.45 per cent year on year. Lewisham mayor Sir Steve Bullock earned £77,722, while Hackney mayor Jules Pipe earned £75,291.

Merrick Cockell, the Tory leader of Kensington and Chelsea council and the chairman of the London Councils umbrella group, is the best paid old-style council leader. He received £66,478 from his council, plus £21,492 from London Councils.

Research for the Standard using freedom of information laws found Tory-run Croydon paid the most allowances and expenses. It ran up a bill of £1,479,832 in 2008/09, with council leader Mike Fisher earning £53,410. Its basic annual award of £11,880 was the most generous. Other than the City of London Corporation, which does not pay allowances, the cheapest was Liberal Democrat-run Kingston, which paid £618,877.

Many boroughs managed to pay councillors more while freezing council tax - possibly meaning that services were cut to balance the books.

There are more than 1,800 London councillors. On average, allowances between April 2006 and March 2009 rose slightly above the average UK wage, which increased by 18 per cent. Tory-run Harrow saw the biggest increase, with its bill rising by £179,851 to £797,280. Barking and Dagenham was the only authority to reduce outgoings, with allowances falling £78,689 to £755,673.

Councillors are also able to reclaim travel, subsistence and carers' expenses, though these tend to be modest. Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Plenty represent their constituents for very little and do a good job, but in some boroughs the allowances are very high."

Councillors can also reclaim travel, subsistence and carers' expenses, though these tend to be modest.