In May 2022 65 councillors were elected to the new Westmorland and Furness Council and served for a year as a shadow council on the 1st of April 2023 those 65 councillor’s and the new council took over from the former Eden council and Cumbria County council as the councils that served Penrith and Eden.
But who are the 65 councillors that you and other council taxpayers across Westmorland and Furness are paying out over £1.18 million every year to pay the 65 councillors who run the Westmorland and Furness unitary council.
Each of the 65 councillors receives a basic annual allowance of £13,837.50 – just for being elected even if they don’t turn up to meetings as some have done attending just a handful of meetings since April 2023. That alone adds up to nearly £900,000 a year paid out by council taxpayers.
On top of that, the Leader of the Council takes home an additional £27,675 in addition to the basic allowance, the Deputy Leader gets and additional £16,605, and eight Cabinet Members each bag another £13,837.50 in “Special Responsibility Allowances”.
There are dozens more payments for committee chairs and other titles, ranging from £2,767 to nearly £7,000 a year and the chair of the council get an additional £6,918.75 – all from the public purse.
Combined the total cost of councillor pay for 2025/26 comes to a staggering £1,185,323.75. This total is before councillors add on additional claims for expenses, mileage, or other perks adding even more to the total cost of the 65 elected councillors annually.
The figures come directly from the council’s own Members’ Allowances Scheme 2025/26.
Critics say the allowances have crept up since the creation of the new unitary authority, while many residents struggle with the cost of living and rising council tax bills.
The Independent Remuneration Panel for Westmorland and Furness Council is appointed by the Council itself — specifically, by a decision of the Full Council.
The panel then hear representation from the councillors about their roles and make a recommendation to the full council on the allowance the recommend councillors approve for themselves.
One member who sat on the last Westmorland and Furness Council's independent remuneration panel said the panel was largely made up of "bureaucrats" unlikely to be critical of rising allowances.
Ian Kell, from Mealbank near Kendal speaking after the conclusion of the last renumeration panel said members of his panel were typically "white collar, public sector bureaucrats with most of the panel members coming from outside the council area, giving them less of a stake in limiting council expenditure. which he added is not representative of the people of Westmorland and Furness" and such people were less likely to criticise a proposal to raise allowances.
Council bosses defend the payments, claiming the scheme is “fair and transparent” and ensures that “anyone can stand for election without being out of pocket.”
Now government is consulting on allowing councillors to tap into the Local Government Pension Scheme one of the largest pension schemes in the world, with over 6.7 million members and £400 billion of assets/ The changes if implemented will allow Councillors and the new Cumbria Mayor who its expected will receive a substantial annual allowance to also benefit from a substantial local government pension.
A government spokesperson said “The proposals will show locally elected leaders the respect they deserve as dedicated public servants. This comes as local government reorganisation and devolution continue to reshape councils across England, the responsibilities held by mayors and councillors are expanding significantly.”
But with £1.18 million of public money going into local councillor pay packets every year, in Westmorland and Furness as public service face pressures and the council faces a £10 million and growing financial black hole that could see public services impacted are the 65 councillors delivering value for public money.
The Westmorland and Furness Council ruling party is the Liberal Democrats who with 36 councillors receiving basic allowances plus the leader deputy leader, chair and cabinet members receiving additional allowances the group collectively get payments by tax payers of over £785,000.00.
So who are the 65 councillor’s collecting over £1.18 million paid by you every year?
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