A Hadleigh district councillor voted against giving senior Babergh officers a large pay increase.

Mick Fraser was in the majority in voting against the motion, which was lost 17 against and eight for, with one abstention, at Babergh's full council meeting on Tuesday night.

Cllr Fraser question due percentages of the increase, which were said to be around 20% to 25%.

Fellow Hadleigh councillors Sian Dawson and Kathryn Grandon were not at the meeting after previously sending their apologies for absence.

The item was pulled from the Mid Suffolk council agenda at zero hour last night, after the defeat earlier in the week left the possibility that the two councils could make two different decisions on pay levels for staff they share.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk district councils, while remaining separate authorities in their own right, share a workforce.

The full council meetings of both this week had been recommended to approve a new pay policy for the chief executive, directors and assistant directors after an independent report by the East of England Local Government Association declared that pay for senior roles was "some way behind what the market would suggest are the appropriate and necessary levels of pay to recruit and retain staff".

That policy would see the chief executive pay bracket change from the current £118,767-£138,202 to £140,000-£160,000; director level increase from £82,170-£96,804 to £100,000-£120,000; and assistant director salaries rise from £59,658-£74,292 to £78,000-£90,000.

But furious councillors at Babergh on Tuesday night rejected the proposals, citing the perception from residents as a key problem, although some voted for fearing officers would leave, and there would be difficulty in recruiting the right calibre replacements.

Cllr Ward said that while he understood the concerns it "will cost a lot more if we don't do this" because it would increase reliance on costly interim payments, and stressed that it was because "we haven't addressed this properly over the past 10 years".

That left the problematic situation on Thursday night for Mid Suffolk where it could have agreed to the new policy while Babergh had refused it, and left uncertainty over how the situation would progress.

Instead, the item was pulled from the agenda for Mid Suffolk to prevent that situation, and discussions will take place over how to move forward.

The review was commissioned after an attempt to hire a new assistant director for communities and wellbeing failed to generate suitable candidates.

Michelle Kirk, director of the East of England LGA said the authorities were "behind the market in all levels of seniority".

According to the figures, the financial impact would be £47,856 more annually than current levels.

The pay policy was last reviewed in 2011 for those roles, although officers have received annual percentage increases. Several councillors said if a new increase was to be done it needed a review of all staff pay boundaries.

You can see the whole debate on Babergh's YouTube channel here, starting at