Assembly says 'yes' to pay rise

Members of the assembly will now earn £38,000

Welsh Assembly members have voted unanimously to give themselves a £1,500 pay rise.

A government quango has said the AMs have worked harder than expected and deserve more.

Unions have been quick to attack the pay hike, claiming one rule for elected representatives and another one for public sector workers.

The rise, which members, which went before the assembly on Thursday, will be on top of the £1,000 extra given to members in April.

Alison Halford asked for the rise in April

The 7% increase takes the salary for an ordinary AM up to £38,000, and is similar to the rise that MPs won earlier this year.

Additional payments are given if a member has a particular responsibility like a Cabinet post.

The Senior Salaries Review Board has also allowed other allowances to go up.

A total of 18 members also stand to gain from a redefinition of rules on who can get an allowance to buy or rent a house in Cardiff. That will give them an allowance of £10,000 extra.

Previously, only members living outside the old counties of Glamorgan and Gwent were entitled.

New rules

Now the House Committee has decided that all AMs - apart from those in the Cardiff and Newport seats and the Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Vale of Glamorgan constuencies - can claim the extra allowance.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: "I wish we didn't have to do it.

"If we could just implement the SSRB recommendation, that would be fine. But there is no way around having to vote on it."

The independent review of salaries in February last year recommended a 2.9% increase in salaries, in line with the rise for Westminster MPs, who now earn £48,000.

The decision will no doubt raise some public concern.

But the news will be welcomed by Delyn AM Alison Halford, who was criticised in April when she said assembly members should earn more.

She said AMs had taken on more work and taxpayers should not have to pay twice for the same job.

And she claimed there were too few members to get the work done.