THE leader of Worcester City Council is taking a £2,000 pay cut under the new committee system, it has emerged.

Labour leader Councillor Adrian Gregson will see his special responsibility top-up shrink from £12,750 to £10,750.

The move is designed to reflect his workload under the new system, with the leader's powers effectively watered down now the cabinet is abolished.

As the Worcester News reported yesterday, the council now has a Labour leader and Tory deputy leader for the first time in its history in a dramatic shake-up.

Conservative Councillor Marc Bayliss, who has been elected deputy leader, will get a top-up of £7,525, a rise of £87.

In return for Cllr Gregson's top-up being slashed a series of politicians appointed to the various, powerful new committees are getting additional allowances of up to £6,450.

It includes Conservative Mike Johnson, who will chair the influential communities committee, and Labour's Joy Squires, who will head up the environment one.

There are also top-ups of £2,150 for the various vice-chairs of each committee, with the sums voted through on a cross-party basis this week.

The cut in the leader's money comes after Green Party Councillor Louis Stephen insisted the role would be "neutered" under the new system.

"It won't be what it was before - in the past a leader had the right to create his own cabinet but we haven't got that now," he said.

"It's a different council now, the leader's role will be more about representing the council to outside bodies."

The figures will be reviewed in a year's time to see if they are still appropriate once the committee system has bedded in.

Cllr Gregson, meanwhile, has urged politicians on all sided to get behind the mew governance model "in a positive vein".

He said: "The system will bring a positive 'in-built' scrutiny of polices and projects as they develop.

"Our new performance monitoring regime means we will be much more on top of what is happening here and now rather than picking over the entrails of issues of months gone by.

"But it relies on all councillors taking us forward in a positive vein - we can argue and debate, but when the decision is made we must make progress."

All 35 city councillors will get a one per cent rise in their basic allowances for 2017-18, meaning the sum will rise £50 to £4,300.

The changes had been recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), which councillors have to vote on.