Inflation stands at zero per cent, council tax has gone up by 1.99 per cent and this week Sutton councillors voted to award themselves a 2.2 per cent pay rise.

The decision was taken at Monday night's Strategy and Resource committee as the ruling Liberal Democrat members argued that the keeping their pay rises pegged to staff pay was a "fair" system that depoliticised councillor salaries.

The Conservative opposition argued that it was difficult to look people in the eye and ask residents to call them "honest" while hiking up their council tax bills in order to help cover an increase councillor wages.

Opposition leader Councillor Tim Crowley, speaking at the meeting, referred to the pay rise as the "elephant in the room".

He said: "If we are on the street and speaking to people.

"Can we look people in the eye and say 'you can call me honest' when we are raising council tax and raising our salaries?

"People are suffering and we are increasing the average person's bill by an extra £29 per year and then we are awarding ourselves more than £226.

"I find it very difficult to go out and knock on people's doors when we are awarding ourselves a pay rise.

"We feel it's not right to do that.

"We can't and won't vote for it."

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The matter will head to Full Council on April 20. If approved each councillor's basic salary will increase from £10,293 to £10,519.

Any special responsibilities will be added.

For example the leader of the council Coun Ruth Dombey, who was absent from the meeting, will get a bump from £40,071 to £40,953, for a total of £51,472.

The deputy leader position, will go from £27,480 to £28,085, for a total of £38,604.

Councillor Simon Wales was standing in for the borough leader.

He, echoed by several other Lib Dems, said their salaries had been linked to staff pay to 'depoliticise' pay.

Coun David Bartolucci asked officers what the total cost of awarding themselves would be to the taxpayer as well as what the added burden residents were being slapped with by Sutton's tax hike.

He was told that councillors' 2.2 per cent salary increase, to a total bill of £920,686 a year, would be an increase of £19.8k and the 1.99 per cent jump in taxes would bring in a further £1.6million each year.

Coun Clifton said linking pay rises to staff salaries would stop the "jacking up" of allowances on the whims of members.

He said: "There has to be a system."

"This is a system that takes it out of the political debate.

"This is a fair system.

"I would be hesitant to tamper with it."

Councillor pay rises, as voted through as part of the constitution, will continue to be linked to the National Collective Bargaining agreements.

This has meant, as per government policy there had been no rises from 2009 to 2013. Since then there has been a relaxing of the rules which has had the effect of the approximate equivalent of 1 per cent rises the past three years.

Coun Broadbent chipped in: "There are lots of councils up and down the country who are awarding themselves much bigger rises."

Coun McCoy added that not getting the pay hike "devalues our own work".

The committee passed the recommendations to raise councillors allowance with voting following party lines. The two Conservative opposition members opposing the increase and the Liberal Democrat block backing their boost.