MONMOUTH Assembly Member Nick Ramsay has criticised the confirmed £10,000 pay rise for members of the Welsh Assembly.

The new pay represents an increase of around 18 per cent and will take the AM's base pay from the current level of £54,390 to £64,000 a year.

Nick said: "As I've said before, there's no way I can justify this pay rise down the local pub. Assembly Members need a settlement that is fair but one that also means we are safe to leave our front doors without having rotten tomatoes hurled at us!

"The proposed 18 per cent increase comes at a time when some public sector workers are receiving an increase of just one per cent.

"In my submission to the independent remuneration panel's consultation, I put forward an alternative solution which allowed for a far more modest rise, paid for by scrapping many of the existing additional office holders allowances.

"This solution could have been cost-neutral and more acceptable to the public. I'm disappointed the panel rejected it.

"At the end of the day I have to be able to look people in the eye and explain all this. They are understandably questioning what is going on and why Assembly Members don't simply get on with the job they were elected to do."

This will come into effect with the start of the Fifth Assembly in May 2016, after the next election.

The reason for this is because AM's will then have increased responsibilities, with powers to set taxes and devolved borrowing power. The Renumeration Board has decided that the added responsibility, combined with a need to encourage candidates to put themselves forward for election, justifies the pay increase.

A number of unions and politicians criticised the plans which will see a pay increase far larger than those seen in public sector jobs.

The change in the base salary will add around £580,000 to the cost of AM's salaries in 2016-17. Half of that, £290,000, will be offset by savings from other changes that will be made. These include a reduction in the additional salaries paid to office holders and a reduction in the taxpayer contribution to the members' pension scheme.

This means the overall additional cost in 2016-17 will be £290,000.