Filey Town Council set to increase mayor’s allowance for ‘first time in 11 years’

An upcoming meeting of Filey Town Council is proposing an increase in the mayoral allowance for the first time in more than a decade.

If town councillors vote in favour of the proposal, the mayor of Filey could see her annual allowance for official duties increased to £2,000.

The current annual allowance of £1,600 granted to Cllr Jacqui Houlden-Banks has not been increased since around 2012, according to council documents.

A full meeting of the town council will be held at the authority’s chamber on Wednesday, August 9 at 7pm.

The agenda for the meeting states: “The council to consider the recommendation from the Strategic Planning Committee to increase the mayoral allowance to £2,000 per annum.

“The mayoral allowance has not been increased in the last 11 years.”

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If approved, this would see an annual increase of £400 as the current allowance is £1,600 according to council documents.

The town’s mayor, Cllr Jacqui Houlden-Banks, was elected to office during the annual general meeting of the full council in May 2023.

At the meeting on Wednesday, the town council will also consider the co-option of two interested persons to vacant positions on Filey Town Council.

A report by the council’s clerk states that a third yet-to-be-filled vacancy “will be filled using a method to be decided”.

Other agenda items include considering the funding of Filey’s Christmas lights and examining methods of funding the display.

In July, the council’s lighting committee resolved to contact the chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, Richard Flinton, in order to “clarify the situation regarding funding for the lights”.

The committee also called for a meeting with the Destination Business Improvement District (DBID) to “clarify the funding situation” as well as deciding to contact the contractor regarding the earliest date for approval of the project.

The clerk’s monthly report for the meeting also states that the replacement of Filey’s information boards “is moving ahead” with detailed information for the boards having been sent to the supplier.

However, the town council’s property committee reviewed the project and decided to reduce the number of boards.