A councillor who chairs an influential Powys County Council committee could receive a bonus payment of three months senior salary – which would equate to £2,333.

At a meeting of the council’s Democratic Services committee on 25 November, councillors received a response from the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) on whether a one off payment could be given to Cllr Lucy Roberts in her role as chairwoman of the Employment and Appeals committee.

This is because Cllr Roberts committee has met far more than usual this year due to the need to sift through and interview candidates for senior roles at the council.

New chief executive, Emma Palmer had been re-jigging and expanding the number of senior roles at the council.

In light of the heavier workload the committee had asked for a review of the senior salary for this role and in September had asked the IRPW for advice on being allowed to award one off ad-hoc payments.

The committee had been told that the council is allowed to pay one more senior salary worth £9,333.

This is on top of the basic councillor salary of £18,666 for this year.

Head of business intelligence and governance, Catherine James told councillors that the IRPW had said that their “framework” did not include provision for one off payments.

Ms James said: “However a payment for a fixed period could be provided, the IRPW emphasised that it is not their responsibility to advise on such matters.”

Cllr Glyn Preston said: “I would be perfectly comfortable to allocate that senior salary for three months, it seems reasonable to me given the additional workload.”

The committee agreed the three month senior salary payment and the recommendation will now go in front of all councillors at a future council meeting.