PEOPLE who are voted onto Wellington Town Council by councillors – rather than at a local election – are to receive an annual allowance.

When a council vacancy becomes available for a councillor there is often the need for it to be filled by co-option, if not enough members of the public call for an election.

It means that candidates put forward their case at a council meeting and it is left to existing councillors to decide who is elected. Sue Fox, for example, was co-opted onto Wellington Town Council by councillors on July 1.

Those councillors co-opted onto the council used to receive an allowance alongside those members who had been elected by local people at an election.

But the council was called out by the Internal Audit process for 2021-22 which reported that “the members’ allowances have been paid to unelected/co-opted members.”

The Local Authorities Regulations 2003 stated that allowances can only be paid to those parish/town councillors who have been “elected.”

So it was decided back then that co-opted councillors would not receive an allowance – although at the time all of the councillors had been elected at a local election.

But now that the council has a number of co-opted councillors and opinion has changed on the payment of allowances.

Cllr John Thorne said there was no definition of the word “elected” in the legislation and argued that co-opted members had been elected by councillors.

Not all of the councillors accept the allowance while only recently they had surprisingly turned down the opportunity to increase the annual allowance from £350 to £775 as recommended by Somerset Council’s Parish, Town and City Independent Remuneration Panel.

Cllr Mark Lithgow, speaking at the town council’s full monthly meeting on Monday (July 1), said: “I think people should have an allowance – people put the work in.”

The Deputy Mayor, Cllr Catherine Govier, said: “I think we should pay the allowance to the co-opted councillors. The legislation seems to be quite vague.”

Cllr Marcus Barr said: “We’re in this together and it’s unfair that some councillors don’t get the allowance. All 15 councillors on the council should get the same.”

The Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, explained she first joined the council in 2007 and the allowance was initially given to councillors as a lump sum instead of them having to bother the town clerk with receipts on a regular basis and wanting recompense.

Cllr Justin Cole, who was co-opted, said: “It should be paid to everyone. If you put in the work you should be paid for it.

“There are a number of people on this council who have been co-opted and they should be treated the same.”

It was proposed by Cllr Catherine Govier and seconded by Cllr Barr that co-opted members are paid an allowance and this was voted in favour.

But Cllr Sean Pringle-Kosikowsky, another co-opted member, said: “This is taxpayers’ money and I don’t think we (councillors) should have any money. This money should be going back into the town.”