Councillors voted in favour of a motion likely to see their pay frozen at a meeting last week.

At the final full council meeting of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council last Thursday, councillors debated a motion setting out their allowances for the 2021-22 year.

All members of the borough council are entitled to an allowance of thousands of pounds, with the amount varied depending on the various responsibility each councillor holds.

They can also decide to return all or some of their allowances.

Several councillors had spoken out against the possibility that they could receive a pay rise whilst officers are likely not to.

How do councillors set their pay?

One councillor, Tristan Robinson, said last week that it was "fundamentally wrong" for councillors to set their own pay.

So for a number of years, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has applied an index to set councillors' pay for them.

The index matches any increase in councillors' allowances to the increase in pay for council employees, but legally they need councillors to approve the use of this each year.

Therefore, if council employees have their pay frozen by central government, BDBC councillors will have their allowances frozen.

The government has previously announced a public sector pay freeze this year, although this is subject to negotiations.

It saw several councillors seek assurances that they would not have their pay increased if officers did not.

How did my councillor vote?

Against: Councillors Colin Phillimore (Basingstoke and Deane Independent for Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon) and Ian Tilbury (BDI, Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon) both voted against the motion to apply the index.

Cllr Phillimore spoke in the debate, saying the possibility that councillors could get a pay rise whilst members of the public were "struggling with the effects of a global pandemic" was "morally wrong and socially unjust".

They are the only two who voted against the motion.

Several councillors, including Cllr Robinson, noted that if a majority voted against the scheme, it would see no allowances given to councillors in 2021-22, which could potentially be a barrier for people on low incomes being able to seek election.

Abstain: Three councillors abstained on the vote, Cllrs Terri Reid (Independent, Hatch Warren and Beggarwood), Clive Sanders (Conservative, East Woodhay) and Mark Taylor (Labour, Brighton Hill North).

All three are standing down at this May's elections.

Absent: Five councillors were absent from last week's vote. These are: Cllrs Tony Capon (CON, Kempshott), Sven Godesen (CON, Basing), Hannah Golding (CON, Oakley and North Waltham), Stephanie Grant (LAB, Buckskin) and Sean Keating (LAB, South Ham).

One seat is currently vacant, after Cllr Anne Court passed away last year.

For: Any councillor not named above voted for the motion to apply the index to their allowances. Councillors were given a "100 per cent guarantee" from the authority's head of governance that any change to their pay would be the same as the change to officers pay.

49 councillors voted for the motion.