The important thing to remember about them is that they are (with a very few exceptions) part-time. They do receive an allowance (slightly different from a wage, but essentially similar) for the time and resources they put in, the national average for this is £7000 per year. Before tax this would equate to around ten and a half hours per week at the average wage but two days a week is about the average for the job. It also involves a lot of evening and weekend duties.
The allowances can vary widely between councils and this often depends on the size and type of the authority, with duties and responsibilities increasing with greater scale. The fact that they are 'allowances' means they will often include within this amount the sundry expenses incurred such as postage, phone calls, printing etc. even travel to and from council duties to home or work. For most ward councillors, taking into account the above and looking at the time spent on meetings, casework, reading the enormous amount of council information and papers, it is not uncharitable to say that it pays not much above the minimum wage.
Though the average age of the local councillor is almost 60, most have to take time off work or give up their own time to fulfill their duties.
There are additional responsibilities that some councillors have, such as leaders, cabinet members and chairs of committees and these will usually have additional payments which cover the additonal time, resources and duties involved.
For more, have a look at the Be A Councillor website by clicking the link.
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