More than £1.2 million in allowances was received by councillors in Cheshire West and Chester last year.

All councillors in England receive a standard allowance for carrying out their duties, with the amount for each council being set by independent panels.

Each councillor on Cheshire West and Chester receives a basic allowance of £14,453.

Some councillors also receive a special responsibility allowance (SRA) for extra work, such as being on the ruling cabinet or holding senior positions on various council boards. The members of the cabinet received SRAs of £14,453, bringing their combined allowances for the year to £28,906.

Council leader Louise Gittins received an SRA for her leadership role of £29,220. Deputy council leader Karen Shore received £24,894.

The council's leader also claimed more than £6,000 in travel and accommodation expenses, some of which the council said was for her work as head of the Local Government Association – with the council saying this will be reimbursed.

The total amount the council's 70 councillors received – including basic allowances, claims for travel and accommodation and SRAs – totalled £1,287,196.

A council spokesman said: "Councillor allowances, including basic allowances, special responsibility allowances and what member additional claims members can make are set out in the member allowances scheme.  

"This scheme was approved by full council for a four-year period in May 2023. The scheme was recommended by an independent panel of residents following an in-depth research exercise."

Councillor Gittins is also the chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), the non-political membership body of local authorities in England.

Cheshire West and Chester's list of members' allowances revealed Cllr Gittins received £6,786 in travel and accommodation costs last year – constituting more than half of all members' total travel and accommodation allowances claimed of £13,103.

A Cheshire West and Chester spokesman, said: "As leader of the council, it is to be expected that Cllr Gittins will represent the council on a significant number of bodies and events.

"A large part of the total published figure relates to work carried out with the LGA and it should be noted that £1,940 of this figure has already been reimbursed to the council by the LGA.

"Further monies are also in the process of being reimbursed."

Member allowances can be viewed here.