Scarborough Town Council faces scrutiny over 250 per cent increase in Mayor’s allowance

A £3,500 allowance will be given to Scarborough Town Council’s (STC) Reform UK mayor, Thomas Murray, after the authority’s annual budget was approved at a meeting on Wednesday, July 16.

Members of the Reform-run council defended the increase on the grounds that the mayor should not be left “out of pocket” for the unpaid role, which they said involved an increase in duties, and added that savings had already been made in other areas.

Before the town council was created on April 1, a group of charter trustees – councillors who represented the town’s unparished areas on North Yorkshire Council – were responsible for maintaining civic traditions.

Speaking at the town council’s full meeting, Independent opposition councillor Rich Maw expressed “serious concerns” over the allocation.

He said: “I just respectfully ask the following: What is the justification for increasing the allowance to £3,500, please?”

The town mayor and chair of STC, Coun Thomas Murray, said the figure was “based on how many engagements I may attend in a given year – I’ve had quite a few engagements since becoming mayor, and how much that’s cost me in that period, extended over the year”.

He added: “The allowance is set at £3,500 because I’m aware that this is public money. However, the estimate that I came up with is a lot more than that. So, it would cost me to be the mayor, and as this is an unpaid role, this money is solely for me to exercise my duties efficiently.”

In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) this week, Mayor Murray said: “One of the things that we are cautious about is how we spend money and if we’re spending money, it has to be meaningful and not wasted.”

At the council’s full meeting, the mayor was also asked whether the allowance had been benchmarked against that of other parish councils of a similar size and structure.

The mayor said other councils’ spending had been looked at and added: “The scope of the town council has received considerable impact, so if we get less impact next year, then the allowance will get reduced.”

Coun Stuart Murray, a member of the leading Reform group, said the party was “very aware of the budget cost” and that “the figure is hopefully more than we need to spend in that particular area”.

“The point really is that we do want to support the role of mayor for this town.”

He added: “If that £3,500 were to be put on the council tax bill, it would be the equivalent of 25 pence a year, council tax bill equivalent.”

Coun Stuart also said that through “careful negotiation”, the authority had already saved £5,000 in money that was allocated in relation to the mayor’s chains and civic regalia.

The overall budget for Scarborough Town Council’s first year up to March 2026, including staff salaries, was set at £385,750.

Note: This is an updated version of a previous article. The Local Democracy Reporting Service has been asked to clarify figures – which were accurately quoted from a meeting of Scarborough Town Council on July 16 – relating to an allowance increase for Scarborough town mayor.

The former Charter Mayor’s initial allowance, in financial year 2023/24, was £500 but this was later increased to £1,000, meaning that Scarborough town mayor’s new allowance of £3,500 is an increase of 250 per cent.

The £3,500 allowance is an upper limit for expenses and might not be claimed in its entirety.