Hyndburn councillors set to freeze allowances for 2026/27
Meeting to decide on scrapping special responsibility payments and salary freeze
Borough councillors in Hyndburn are expected to freeze their allowances for the 2026/27 municipal year during a full council meeting scheduled for Thursday, 23rd October 2025.
Council leader Cllr Munsif Dad is urging members to forego inflationary increases to their payments, which were recommended by an independent remuneration panel last year.
The proposed freeze, set to take effect from 1st April 2026, has received backing from the Leader’s Policy Development Board.
Removal of special responsibility allowances
In addition to the pay freeze, councillors will be asked to approve scrapping special responsibility allowances (SRAs) for political group secretaries and chief whips.
Currently set at £784 annually, these payments were highlighted as unusual by the Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Review Team during their Autumn 2024 visit. The review found that no other local authority in Lancashire provides these specific SRAs.
Cllr Dad’s report explains: “An inflationary increase could be made to the allowances scheme for 2026/27 as such increases were sanctioned by the remuneration panel in 2024.
“However, members allowances scheme was recently reviewed by the Leader’s Policy Board, which recommended that allowances should not be increased in respect of the 2026/27 municipal year and should instead be frozen at the current level.
"The Leader’s Policy Board also recommended that the special responsibility allowances payable to each political group whip and secretary should be removed with effect from April 1st 2026.”
Next steps
If the full council endorses these recommendations, councillors’ allowances will remain at their current levels for another year, with SRAs for whips and secretaries removed entirely.
Decisions made at the meeting will reflect Hyndburn Council's commitment to responding to feedback and maintaining alignment with practices across Lancashire.