Councillors voted to increase their own allowances minutes after the deputy council leader admitted it was “not a great time” to be discussing the topic.

Gravesham council had just voted in favour of increasing council tax on Tuesday evening when attention turned to how much members should be able to claim towards travel and other costs incurred during their duties.

The room was split between those who felt allowances needed to be sufficient to attract working people who could not afford to be councillors unless their expenses were covered and others who felt it would be wrong in the current financial climate.

Cllr Turner stressed the recommendations to increase members’ allowances came from the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) rather than from members themselves.

He urged his fellow members not to “kill the opportunity” to encourage high quality councillors to join them in the future.

Labour leader Cllr John Burden said there had been no increases in members’ allowances for several years and Conservative Cllr Alan Ridgers added that Gravesham’s allowance was currently one of the lowest in the southeast.

"Magistrates and school governors don’t get paid anything. This is the wrong time," Cllr Mick Wenban

But Cllr John Caller, who voted against the increase, said the reason the allowance is among the lowest in the region is because the council represents some of the lowest paid residents in the area.

And Tory Cllr Mick Wenban added: “Magistrates and school governors don’t get paid anything. This is the wrong time.”

Labour’s Jenny Wallace announced she would not be supporting the increase saying she “can’t do it” to her residents, some of whom struggle to pay their rent and rely on food banks.

The IRP concluded that Gravesham councillors spend an average of 12.5 hours per week performing council duties.

It decided the allowance should be 60% of what an average council employee would be paid during a 12.5 week period, which it worked out to be £4,635 per year.

The current basic allowance is £3,447 per year.

Councillors with additional responsibilities can claim extra allowances.

The leader of the executive, for example, will now be able to claim an additional £20,858 while the chairman of the crime and disorder committee can claim an additional £464.

When the vote was taken 25 councillors voted for the increase while 13 voted against it.

The changes will come into place in May.

Labour’s Cllr Brian Sangha pointed out councillors don’t have to claim their allowances even if they are entitled to.