COUNTY councillors have voted to give themselves a six per cent pay rise as council tax bills rise by five per cent for Gloucestershire residents.

Elected members at Shire Hall are set to get hundreds of pounds more each year as the basic allowance will increase from £11,395 to £12,075.

The special responsibility allowance for cabinet members at Gloucestershire County Council is also due to increase by 3.5 per cent.

But all allowance increases will be capped to a maximum increase of £1,925 each year.

Councillors agreed on March 20 to index link the allowance increases for the next three years and they will be based on average percentage increase for council staff.

The agreed rises will see the special responsibility allowance the council leader is entitled to increase to £37,467 a year.

The cap on increases makes the total allowance payable for the top democratically elected job at the council £49,520 for the upcoming financial year.

And cabinet members can expect to see their pay rise to just under £21,000 meaning their total payable allowance will be £33,033 from April.

The chairman’s allowance is also rising from £10,140 to £10,750. Committee chairs will be eligible for £7,140 as well as opposition group leaders with more than five members. Groups with less than five will be eligible for £5,710.

Opposition county councillor Joe Harris (LD, Cirencester Beeches), who is also the leader of Cotswold District Council, said Conservative opposition councillors were critical of his administration in Cirencester and their record on members allowances at a recent meeting.

The council voted to approve the increase with the exception of opposition county councillor Joe Harris (LD, Cirencester Beeches), who is also the leader of Cotswold District Council, who abstained.

Earlier this year, Gloucestershire County Council approved a council tax increase of 4.99 per cent.

This means the amount a band D property pays for services provided by Shire Hall totals £1,370 this year.

The total bill which includes district, police and parish services is much higher. In Gloucester the average bill for 2024/25 is £2,138.