Councillors at Frome Town Council have voted to give the Chair Cllr Fiona Barrows a temporary rise in her monthly allowance for the next six months due to increased workload.
The £3,750 increase means Cllr Barrows will receive an additional £625 per month, which will come from general reserves, until April 2026. Councillors unanimously agreed to the rise at the full council meeting on Wednesday 29th October.
Allowance
Until May this year, no Frome town councillor had received extra income for the leader role. When Cllr Barrows became Chair of the Council, a £15,000 allowance was introduced for this year. It was introduced to cover lost earnings, as the role is estimated to require 2.5 days of work per week.
With the temporary increase, Cllr Barrows’ total allowance as Chair for the year will rise to around £18,750, reflecting the extra duties she is taking on.
Cllr Carla Collenette told the meeting that Cllr Barrows’ new commitments have included working alongside the clerk on the recent Badgers Hill decision, working on the Corporate Peer Challenge led by the Local Government Association, and writing a new strategy for the council, among other things.
The council says the temporary adjustment which will be made now reflects a change in circumstances and workload as the Chair has had to spend significantly more time on council business following the Town Clerk’s resignation and the ongoing recruitment of a permanent Town Clerk.
Voluntary role
Being a councillor in a town or parish council is voluntary, but allowances can be provided to compensate for time and expenses. All Frome councillors receive a standard £1,291 allowance.
Cllr Collenette added, “We are doing things differently and one of the things we are also doing differently, is recognising that being a town councillor with this council is a big job. So, if you are going to commit that amount of time, there are town councils that do give allowances, but not very many. At district and unitary level, that is a given.”
Diversity
The increase also reflects a push to improve diversity. Cllr Collenette said the allowance aims to value ‘diversity, inclusion and equity’ and allow people beyond ‘white, retired men’ to take on leadership roles.
Reviewing the role
Cllr Andy Jones said he was in support of paying allowances to open up the role but shared concern that the role of chair has ‘grown beyond’ what it used to be. He said, “I am fully supportive of the need for an allowance but I am really concerned that we are allowing the scope of this role to creep beyond what’s achievable as a volunteer and potentially building this into a permanent structure, which it was never meant to be.”
The council has confirmed future leader allowances would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Pictured: Cllr Fiona Barrows
