COUNCILLORS on South Ribble Borough Council are among the country's lowest paid, they have claimed.

Two weeks ago there was an outcry following the announcement that the council's top brass could be receiving huge pay rises under modernisation plans.

Now councillors have hit back, saying they provide a value-for-money service.

Statistics show that they are among the country's lowest paid, with only a handful of authorities paying their elected members less.

And even when the new system comes into operation - which will give some councillors an 11 per cent pay rise, compared to last year's attendance allowances - they will still be getting paid less than the national average, says council leader Gina Lewis.

She said: "The government has said we need to move away from this attendance allowance system which paid councillors for every meeting they attended, whether they said anything or not.

"The new system will see councillor's 'pay' decided by an independent panel of assessors, and will take into account the amount of casework councillors do and their other work for the council, such as attending seminars and meetings in other parts of the region."

She added: "There is a misconception that all we do is turn up for the odd meeting here and there but the vast majority of councillors work very hard behind the scenes."

Her view is shared by rebel independent Tom Sharratt, who said: "I firmly believe that councillors should be paid a realistic wage.

"There are council officials who are on highly inflated wages but many councillors have to give up work to do this job.

"Many people do not appreciate the level of work councillors carry out behind the scenes."

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