BOLTON’S Liberal Democrat group leader says his party’s plans to challenge the new councillors allowances regime was scuppered by Labour.

The Liberal Democrats says the new system they means Labour members receive more money in total despite having fewer seats.

And Cllr David Wilkinson says that by including the measures in the same motion as the new committee appointment was a way “for the controlling group to bury it all”

But a Labour group spokesman defended the new system. He said: “Responsibility and decision making has been more widely shared in the cabinet restructure

The SRA for an ‘Executive Cabinet Member’ was approx £12,000 additional to the basic allowance and this has been reduced to £7,000 for the seven newly-appointed executive cabinet members.”