Revealed: What our council leaders get paid
![Portsmouth City Council leader Cllr Donna Jones](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_79898504.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
![Portsmouth City Council leader Cllr Donna Jones](/img/placeholder.png)
Statistics compiled by TaxPayers’ Alliance reveal councillors in the city earn a basic allowance of £10,358.
Councillor Donna Jones, as leader, takes an additional £18,644 – but that’s less than the leaders of Brighton, Southampton and Bournemouth councils.
Only Winchester pays less to its leader – £16,734.
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Hide Ad![TaxPayers Alliance figures showing councillors' allowances across the area](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_81010884.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![TaxPayers Alliance figures showing councillors' allowances across the area](/img/placeholder.png)
Of the local districts, Fareham pays the most to councillors who don’t hold any special responsibilities – £6,566 – and leader Cllr Sean Woodward takes £19,699 on top of the basic allowance.
Portsmouth paid out £569,150 in expenses overall in 2014/2015, the lowest of the local unitary authorities, while Fareham paid the most of any district aside from Winchester – £380,885.
Cllr Jones said: ‘We are providing value for taxpayers’ money in Portsmouth and we pride ourselves on keeping costs down for the people of the city.
‘Being in opposition is not a full-time job. However, when you a member of the administration and the leader of the council, the chair of a committee or a cabinet member, you’re committing a lot of time. It’s a full-time job for me now.’
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Hide Ad![Havant Borough Council leader Mike Cheshire](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_80992157.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Havant Borough Council leader Mike Cheshire](/img/placeholder.png)
The city statistics come despite Labour and the Lib Dem council groups calling for a reduction in the amount paid to councillors as part of their proposed spending programmes.
Cllr Woodward said while Fareham’s allowances are higher, it has fewer councillors.
He said: ‘Fourteen years ago we took the decision to cut a quarter of the councillors out.
‘We reduced our numbers from 42 to 31, which now is what the government is encouraging councils to do.
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Hide Ad![Fareham Borough Council leader Sean Woodward](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_80196693.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Fareham Borough Council leader Sean Woodward](/img/placeholder.png)
‘If you look at the bill, it works out at roughly £500 for each councillor a month.
‘We are running an organisation that spends around £50m a year and employs around 400 staff.
‘It’s a highly efficient organisation with significant challenges.’
TaxPayers’ Alliance found £699m has been paid out to councillors in allowances in the UK over the last three years. In 2014/2015, the highest basic allowance was paid by Moray Council – £16,722 – while the highest special responsibility allowance was paid by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – £54,769.