The chairman of the panel that wants councillors to only receive a statutory increase in their pay has explained the decision.

The suggestion – which will be put to councillors for a decision next month – is that standard allowances and those for specific roles such as leader of the council, cabinet member, or committee chairman should not be increased, apart from that of the deputy leader.

Every councillor is paid £8,384, which will only increase in line with council officers’ nationally-set pay rise.

Earlier this week thescrutiny committee asked for more information on how the panel came up with its plan.

Panel chairman Keith Strickland said: “We benchmarked alongside other similar-sized councils. We interviewed a number of councillors and sent a questionnaire to all of them

He explained: “We wanted to set a fair rate for the work, and also wanted Swindon to be somewhere near the average for comparable councils. It was a bit of both.”