Senedd politicians' pay frozen because of Covid-19

A 4.4% increase in Senedd members pay due for October has been scrapped.

An independent board said the pay rise was "difficult to justify" given the poor economic outlook caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It means Members of the Senedd (MSs) will continue to receive a base salary of £67,649, while the pay of office holders will also remain the same.

No increase will happen before the next Senedd term, which starts in May and follows the next election.

Currently the First Minister Mark Drakeford receives £147,983, while his senior ministerial colleagues get £105,701.

Deputy ministers are paid £89,846, while the Presiding Officer Elin Jones is given £110,987.

Under the rules the salaries were due to be altered according to the change in gross average earnings for full time employee jobs in Wales.

It was due in October, and the following April of each year.

The Independent Remuneration Board said: "The extremely unfavourable economic outlook in Wales will mean that many workers will experience hardship, be it through reduced salary or unemployment.

"The Board is of the view that the economic picture has changed significantly since the Board reviewed the matter in March at the start of the pandemic.

"It is becoming clearer that the pandemic will have longer term impacts and given the rapidly changing public health context in the past three weeks, it is now highly likely that the extremely poor economic outlook will prevail for the next six months.

"Given these considerations, the board believes that allowing any pay rise to take place in such conditions would be unsuitable and difficult to justify."