Senior councillors have called for members’ allowances to increase automatically to avoid the issue becoming a "political football".
An independent panel currently meets annually to make recommendations on how much North Yorkshire Council members receive in allowances.
The recommendation is then put to councillors for approval.
But senior councillors have proposed that the panels meets every four years instead, with allowances rising automatically between meetings based on inflation or linked to increases received by officers.
Members of the council’s executive committee made the recommendation this week while approving the panel’s latest proposal of a 3.6 per cent for 2026/27.
Councillor Mark Crane, executive member for open to business, said he had suggested to the panel councillors receive less next year.
But he added:
“I was probably in a minority of one, but there you are.
“But when I was on Selby Council, we had a system where the independent panel met once every four years and whatever they gave us was then tied to the pay of officers and any rises that they had, so that it didn’t come back year after year to become a political football.”
Cllr Crane suggested that the panel could meet next year ahead of the local elections in 2027 and agree on a system that meant it would not meet for another four years.
“I think that we should know that those who want to stand in 2027 should know what the basic allowance is and should know that it’s then tied to RPI, CPI, officers’ pay, whatever it is, to the national system, so that it doesn’t come back every year and we have a political fight about it.”
Deputy leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd, backed the proposal.
He said:
“As somebody who’s advocated (this system) in principle for a decade or more to avoid the political shenanigans that go on, or have gone on lately rather than historically, I’m fully supportive of Mark’s view on this.
“Whether we link it to CPI, RPI or officers’ pay I would be happy to leave the panel to do, but I think more importantly, in an ideal world, we wouldn’t be approving.
“I strongly believe it’d have been easier for us if it was on a nationally agreed pay scale or whatever, but we’re not in that place. That’s something that will have to be decided elsewhere.”
Cllr Dadd also said it was important that anyone standing for election in 2027 knew what the basic allowance would be beforehand.
He added:
“Somebody that signs their consent to nominations in February or March 2027 should know what the foundations are and what the reward or remuneration, call it what you want, is going to be because at the moment they’re going in blind."
Councillors agreed to recommend to full council that the allowances would rise in line with the panel’s report and that full council discusses the proposal for the panel to meet every four years.
The proposed increase for 2026/27, which is in line with inflation, would take the basic allowance from £17,340 to £17,964 for the upcoming financial year.
Allowances for councillors’ extra responsibilities are also set to rise at the same rate.
The increases would mean the annual bill for the council’s member allowances rising to more than £1.6m a year.
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