Bolton Council's cabinet members received a pay rise of around 25 per cent after an lively debate at the town hall.

The increase, from £7,265 to £9,115, is a lot lower than the pay rise of around 75 per cent proposed by academic Declan Hall and the members of an Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), but a lot higher than inflation, which was a little over 10 per cent at its peak.

In a cabinet of 10 councillors, the additional cost to the taxpayer would be £16,650, but leader Nick Peel reduced the cabinet by one after his appointment two months ago. This change, alongside other changes, meant the additional cost to the taxpayer would be zero.

He appealed to all councillors to support these changes when the council met at the town hall.

READ MORE: Bolton: Constituencies to see changes after end of review.

Cllr Peel, who turned down around £6,500 for his role on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said: "What we have is a cost neutral solution which redistributes the money in a small way in the spirit of what the IRP asked for. 

"I hope we can have an honest debate about this tonight and not to be tempted to point score. We've agreed it isn't good for politics in Bolton and anything which isn't good for politics in Bolton isn't good for our people and our services."

Martyn Cox, the leader of the opposition, and David Wilkinson, a councillor for the Liberal Democrats, advocated against the increase.

They sympathised with their adversary and his attempt to cut the cost to the public.

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Cllr Wilkinson said: "I believe we have to tighten our belts at this moment in time. 
"People have gone through fuel, gas, electric and now mortgages I'm afraid we have to tighten our belts as well."

But others, such as Mudasir Dean and Nadim Muslim, were less sympathetic about the increase. Cllr Dean said it was a 'shambles' while Cllr Muslim said it was 'surprising'.

Cllr Peel retorted towards the end of an animated debate.

Cllr Peel said: "Isn't it ironic? I was offered £6,500 for my Greater Manchester portfolio and I said no because it's not the right time. Cllr Muslim took up the chair of GM scrutiny and accepted £9,500 for it. 

"The guy who's making the decisions gets nothing and the guy who's scrutinising the decisions gets £9,500. What a hypocrite. I've foregone my allowance, are you going to forgo yours? I think that's a no."

After a vote, the changes passed by a margin of five votes.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.