Councillors and council leaders across Wales will get a salary rise under plans. An independent panel assess pay on an annual basis.
The independent panel’s recommendations for 2025-26 say the basic salary would become £19,771. It is a sum paid to all elected members, for their role as a councillor and is based on a full time equivalent of three days a week. Last year, it was £18,666 a year.
The panel says it is “fully aware of the current constraints on public funding” but adds “in previous electoral cycles, the remuneration of councillors fell far behind the key benchmark of Average Hourly Earnings in Wales and a significant uplift was therefore required in 2022.”
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The amount council leaders is dependant on the authority’s size. The leaders of Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Swansea will get a salary of £74,141, up from £69,998 in 2024-25. Their deputy leaders are to get £51,899 and cabinet members £44,485.
Leaders of the following councils will get £66,727 – up from £62,998.
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Bridgend
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Caerphilly
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Carmarthenshire
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Conwy
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Flintshire
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Gwynedd
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Newport
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Neath Port Talbot
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Pembrokeshire
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Powys
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Vale of Glamorgan
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Wrexham
Deputy leaders of those authorities are in line for a rise to £46,709, while cabinet members’ salaries would be £40,036. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
The leaders of the following councils will get £63,020, up from £59,498.
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Blaenau Gwent
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Ceredigion
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Denbighshire
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Merthyr Tydfil
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Monmouthshire
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Torfaen
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Isle of Anglesey
Deputy leaders will receive £44,114 and cabinet members £37,812.
A consultation has taken place and the panel will issue its final determinations and its annual report by February 28, 2025.
Wales has three national parks, Eryri (Snowdonia), Pembrokeshire Coast and Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). All three have national park authorities. The basic members of those will get £5,576 and chairs £15,462. Chairs of Welsh fire authorities will be in line for £12,674, and basic members for payments of £2,788.
The panel also says members of community and town councils will be paid £156 a year (equivalent to £3 a week) towards the extra household expenses including heating, lighting, power and broadband, of working from home.
Councils must either pay their members £52 a year for the cost of office consumables or allow them to claim that sum back.