Hammersmith Town Hall extension
Allowances for Hammersmith & Fulham councillors have been frozen for the second year running.
The decision to freeze payments for all councillors follows the unprecedented 10 per cent cut to cabinet members’ allowances – which saw the first-ever reduction in members’ allowances at H&F Council.
The pay cut and subsequent allowances freeze is central to the council’s commitment to protecting frontline services for local residents, by stripping out wastefulness, bringing an end to unnecessary roles and inflated salaries at the Town Hall.
This has seen over £600,000 cut from the cost of senior management over the last two years.
The 10 per cent cut and subsequent allowances freeze mean that the annual allowances paid have fallen as below:
- Leader of the Council cut from £35,763 to £32,186.70
- Deputy Leader cut from £29,796 to £26,816.40
- Cabinet Members from £23,838 to £21,454.20
Cllr Max Schmid, H&F Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “It is only right that cabinet members and councillors at H&F are playing their part in finding savings with a complete freeze in allowances.
“This comes on top of the 10 per cent cut we brought in during the first year of this administration – the first time ever that councillor allowances had been cut in H&F.
“While payments for elected members grow elsewhere, the H&F allowances freeze is part of a package of prudent financial management that enabled us to cut council tax last year, abolish homecare charges and invest in frontline services and fight to defend Charing Cross Hospital.
“It also means that H&F was one of a handful of councils in the country to freeze council tax this year, despite central Government suggestions for a 3.75 per cent rise.”
