February 19, 2001 11:03: THE leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, David Shakespeare, is in line to get a salary of £40,000 a year from May.

His deputy, Bill Chapple, will be on £29,500.

The figures have been recommended by a three-man panel set up to look at councillors' pay.

Top members in the eight-person cabinet now have far more responsibility and the leader and deputy leader's jobs are virtually full-time. The salaries suggested by the panel are meant to reflect this point.

In addition there's the hope that better rewards will attract more people to stand for election rather than mainly white, middle-class retired men.

The other six cabinet members will each be paid between £22,500 and £14,500 a year, with the leader to decide who gets what. There will be smaller allowances for committee chairmen

These figures include a basic allowance of £8,500 a year, (£1,000 more than at present), which goes to all 54 councillors regardless of what they do.

The package still has to be approved by the full council when it meets on Thursday but the cabinet has already pledged to accept the recommended rates.

The present system of allowances totals £539,542 a year, and this will add a further £133,000 a year.

It's a big change from the old system. Once councillors got nothing at all and until recently most of their money came as an allowance for going to meetings.

But the idea now is that councillors should get fair recompense for the work they do, though the new system is not supposed to be a complete reflection of what councillors are worth.

The panel knocked a third off what they considered a fair price for the job to reflect the fact that council work is supposed to be done as a community service and not for financial reward.

The new pay scales will be reviewed each year and increases will be based on the average pay rises given to county hall staff.

Margaret Smith