Swindon Borough Council's Conservative group has rejected a proposed 10% rise in the basic annual allowance paid to councillors, after the Independent Remuneration Panel recommended the figure go up from £9,741.63 to £10,715.79, an increase of £974.16. The recommendation was discussed at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday 8 October, at which the council also confronted a string of difficult financial decisions, the exact nature of which were somewhat overshadowed by councillors being quite keen to talk about the allowance thing instead.